Mobile suit Gundam SEED: Song of Redemption
by 117Jorn
Summary: A crossover of "Gundam Seed:Path to redemption" writen by DragonknightRyu, "Song of the Storm wolf" writen by Storm Wolf 77415, and my own fanfic "Gundam Seed: Miracle" with some twists and turns. Spoiler alert for those fanfics. FEM kira, may up to M
1. Mecha Page 1

"_Raven huh. Well, let's see what this thing can do." _Chris Dante

Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X305 'Raven'  
Unit Type: Prototype attack use transformable mobile suit  
Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Phase Shift Armor  
Armament: 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm anti-air vulcan gun, 2x beam saber (mounted on the hips), 1x dual 52mm hyper velocity shield cannon (usable in both modes)  
Mobile Armor Mode Armament: 2x "Ahura Mazda" short-range energy cannon, 2x M2M3 76mm machinegun  
Pilot: Christopher Dante  
Appearance: Appearance wise, it resembles the Raider Full Spec, save it possess the Raider's dual shield cannon and the additional thrusters on the back of the legs.  
Colors: Primary midnight blue with red trim. White thighs, biceps, and face.  
Info: The Raven is the predecessor to the GAT-333 Raider Full Spec and the technologically superior GAT-X370 'Raider'. Originally, it was suppose to the second last G-Weapon to be completed in Heliopolis. But due to a accident early in its construction, it was almost scrapped altogether, but ultimately it was completed the day before the attack on Heliopolis. As a result of this, Rau Le Creuset and the team he sent to Heliopolis, were completely unaware of its construction and completion. Like the Raider and the Raider Full Spec, the Raven can transform into a bird-like Mobile Armour and can double as a atmospheric flight platform for other Mobile Suits.  
Author's Notes: This is Akatsukileader13's Raven Gundam.

OoOoOo

"_The Dragon... I can't believe they actually wanted to scrap it, heh, their lose my gain. _" Ryu Hisanaga

Mobile Unit Serial Number: GAT-X000 'Dragon'**  
**Unit type: prototype all purpose mobile suit

Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery, power output rating unknown

Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown; Phase Shift (PS) armour, Flight pack

Fixed armaments: 2 x "Igelstellung'"75mm multi-barrel CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head; Integrated Weapon Shield (Mounted on left arm); 'Mesamune' heat blade, mounted on right arm, extended in use; 2x energy transfer cable

Optional armaments: Type 71-beam rifle, stored on hip, hand carried in use; bazooka; aqua shotgun; MA-22Z prototype high density beam sniper

Integrated Weapon Shields (IWS): Missile shield (4x missile pods, 5x Hydra-class missiles per pod); 'Trikeros' offense/defence system, mounted on left arm, featuring: 50mm high-energy beam rifle, power rating unknown; beam saber; lancer darts; 'Scylla' shield ('Scylla' 580 mm energy cannon).

Pilot(s): Ryu Hisanaga

Appearance: Has a frame similar to the Hyaku Shiki with the Strike's head, its shield runs along the arm in a similar manner to the Blitz.

Colours: Primary Black with red trim and woodland green on thighs, face and Biceps.

Info: Precursor to all the G-weapons most significantly the Strike with its IWS system replacing the Striker packs. This mobile suit was originally to be scrapped due to its difficulty to control, even more so than the other G-weapons. The Mesamune heat blade operates similarly to the Exia's GN sword/rifle but does not have a gun attached to it. The Dragon is capable of mounting striker packs. The Designer of the mobile suit is unknown but rumours point it towards the fabled Dragon of Endymion.

Author Notes: An inspired mix of the Strike's versatility and the Exia's primary weapon, the Mesamune Heat blade operates as the name suggests, the blade is heated to the point where it no longer just cuts, but melts and cauterizes at the same time making it the perfect weapon for dealing with other Gundams, the heat blade is also sharp enough to use against regular opponents without using its heating function. The energy transfer cable also operates as the name suggests allowing the Dragon to steal other mobile suits energy reserve and using the second cable can recharge allied mobile suits.

This is DragonknightRyu's "Dragon Gundam"

OoOoOo

"_As a soldier I can't help but be impressed, as a human I can't help but be afraid._" Lev Mikhail

Mobile Unit Serial Number: GAT-X130 'Grizzly'

Unit Type: Prototype Heavy Assault Transformable Mobile Suit

Powerplant: Ultracompact energy Battery, power output rating unknown

Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown; Phase Shift (PS) armour, reinforced Titanium steel plating

Fixed armaments: 2 x "Igelstellung'"75mm multi-barrel CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head; 2 x "Schlag" 125mm high-energy long-range beam cannon, mounted on backpack over shoulders; "Kaefer Zwei" 115mm dual ram cannon, mounted on shield connected to left arm; 2x beam claws, hidden on wrist.

Optional armaments: Type 71-beam rifle, stored on hip, hand carried in use; hyper bazooka

Pilot(s): Lev Mikhail

Appearance: Looks like the Full Armour Zeta Gundam With the Calamity's shield and backpack.

Colours: Primary dark brown with black trim and light brown joints and face

Info: Simply put, meant for storming through bases and coming out and coming out the other side unharmed. Heavily armoured it is slow and cumbersome on the ground, has extra boosters for space manoeuvrability and can transform into a bear-shaped mobile armour with its Schlag cannons on its back and the beam claws usable on the front 'feet'.

Author Notes: A sudden inspiration Gundam when I saw the Full Armour Zeta, I mean why not put heavy weapons on an armoured mobile suit, makes sense to me, was going to originally use the Calamity for the frame base for this but decided against it.

OoOoOo

"_Just how bloody fast is this thing!_" Yuuka Mizuki

Mobile Unit Serial Number: GAT-X220 'Lighting'

Unit Type: Prototype High Speed Attack Mobile Suit

Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery, power output rating unknown

Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown; Phase Shift (PS) armour, light wave pulse flight pack

Fixed armaments: 2 x "Igelstellung'"75mm multi-barrel CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head; 2 x beam saber, stored on hips, hand-carried in use; shield, mounted on left arm

Optional armaments: Type 71-beam rifle, stored on hip, hand carried in use; Bazooka

Pilot(s): Yuuka Mizuki

Appearance: Looks like the F91 Gundam but has the Aile Strike's flight pack instead of the twin boosters and the shoulder 'fins' are removed

Colours: White with red trim and red chest

Info: The smallest yet fastest of the G-weapons, using experimental Light wave pulse technology and integrating it into a flight back it allows the Lightning to move faster than any other mobile unit on the field, however due to power cost the weapon systems have been limited to the CIWS, beam sabers, and beam rifles.

Author notes: loosely based off of Akatsuki Leader13's Surge gundam but using the F91's base instead.

OoOoOo

"_To protect them I _will_ fight with Zephyr_" Elizabeth 'Liz' Dante

Mobile Unit Serial Number: GAT-X310 'Zephyr'

Unit Type: Prototype Transformable attack Mobile Suit

Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery, power output rating unknown

Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown; Phase Shift (PS) armour

Fixed armaments: 2 x "Igelstellung'"75mm multi-barrel CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head; 2 x beam saber, stored on hips, hand-carried in use; shield, mounted on left arm, 2x rail gun, mounts on shoulder; 4x missile pods with 10x Hydra missile's per pod, stored in shield, usable only in jet form

Optional armaments: Type 71-beam rifle, stored on hip, hand carried in use, mounts on main body in jet form

Pilot(s): Liz Dante

Appearance: Wing Gundam without the extended shoulders or armour skirts at the waist and has the Strike's chest, transformed mode looks like a fighter jet

Colours: Light blue primary with red trim and bronze joints.

Info: Third transformable mobile suit created at Heliopolis, designed for atmospheric flight and combat it was the final machine created at Heliopolis.

Authors Note: Defiantly inspired by the Wing and Arios Gundams, defiantly was a tossup between using the Wing or Arios base, may eventually make an Arios based mobile suit though.

OoOoOo

_"GAT-X108 Predator, so, that's what you're called? Appropriate name."- _Sebastian Connor

Mobile Unit Serial Number: GAT-X108 'Predator'

Unit Type: Prototype Close-Quarter-Combat Mobile Suit

Powerplant: Ultracompact energy battery, power output rating unknown

Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown; Phase Shift (PS) armour

2 x "Igelstellung'"75mm multi-barrel CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head; 2 x beam saber, stored on hips, hand-carried in use; 2 x "Armor Schneider" combat knife; shield, mounted on left arm,

Optional armaments: Type 71-beam rifle, stored on hip, hand carried in use,

Pilot(s): Sebastian Connor

Appearance: Appears identical to the Strike Gundam.

Colours: Forrest Green with black Trim. White thigh, biceps, and face.

Info: A model built perfectly for Close Quarter Combat.

Authors Note: This is the GAT-X108 Predator from Storm wolf77415's "Song of the Storm Wolf"

OoOoOo

"_We're gonna fight to end this war…once and for all__." _–Jordan

Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X900 'Katana'  
Unit Type: Prototype Multi-purpose Mobile suit  
Power plant: Advance Reactor Core (A.R.C)  
Special Equipment: Phase Shift Armor, Mirage Colloid (Optional with Sniper Mode)  
Fixed Armament: 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm anti-air vulcan gun, 2x beam saber (mounted on the hips), 2x Non-powered Katana blades (Can fuse together to form Duel-bladed Katana sword),  
Optional armaments: The Katana's optinal armaments come from the four different "Katana" packs, each pack contains weapons from other G-Weapons, and are named after them.

**Buster Pack**: 1x 350mm Gun Launcher, 1x 94mm High-energy rifle, 2x 320mm 3-tube Homing Missile Launcher, mounted in shoulders; 2x 12-tube 220mm Micro Missile Launcher, mounted on legs, 75mm Double Beam Gatling Gun with Shield, fire-linked, mounts over left forearm;

**Duel Pack**: 1x 57mm High-energy beam rifle (With 175mm Grenade Launcher), 2x wrist-mounted 90mm tri-barreled gataling cannon (Like the ones on the Axel Gundam)

**Blitz** **Pack**: 1x Trikeros Offence/Defense system (1x 50mm High-energy beam rifle, 1x Beam Saber, 3x Lancer Dart), 1x BR-M79L Sniper Beam Rifle, (Also Blitz pack is armed with Mirage Colloid)

**Katana Knight Pack **(Jordan's Custom Pack)**: **2x MMI-600 "Dauntless" Anti-ship sword (Like the ones the Sword Impulse uses), 1x Anti-beam coated shield,2x shoulder-mounted beam-boomerangs, 1x Type 70 Beam SMG,

Pilot: Jordan Takeo  
Appearance: Appearance wise, it looks like the Red Frame, while having the abilities of the Strike

Colors: Primary of red with black chest. White thighs, biceps, and face.  
Info: The GAT-X900 Katana is one of the three Mobile suits from Heliopolis to gain the "900 series" mark. Because it is powered by the Experamentle Advance Reactor Core code-named Arc. It gives the Mobile suit an Infinate run-time while using its weaponry, and Phase shift. But even though it has infinite energy, its Phase shift is still vulnerable to opposing beam weaponry.

OoOoOo

"_Swords, Swords, Daggers, and a beam rifle…Not very creative in weapons__." _–Sarah Lenix

Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X201 'Slash'  
Unit Type: Prototype Close Combat mobile suit  
Power plant: Ultracompact energy battery  
Special Equipment: Phase Shift Armor  
Armament: 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm anti-air vulcan gun, 2x beam saber (mounted on the hips), 2x Beam daggers, 1x "Exia" physical sword with concealed beam rifle.

Pilot: Sarah Lenix  
Appearance: Appearance wise, looks like Gundam Exia.  
Colors: Primary light blue with red trim. White thighs, biceps, and face. 

OoOoOo

"_That's enough!__" _–Matthew Takeo

Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X901 'Shadow Scythe'  
Unit Type: Prototype Close Combat mobile suit  
Power plant: Advance Reactor Core (A.R.C)  
Special Equipment: Phase Shift Armor  
Armament: 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm anti-air vulcan gun, 2x beam saber (mounted on the hips), 1x Beam Scythe (On back when not in use), 2x 120mm Machine Cannon, fire-linked, mounted on shoulders;

Pilot: Matthew Takeo  
Appearance: Appearance wise, looks like Gundam Death Scythe.  
Colors: Primary Black with red trim. White thighs, biceps, and face.  
Info: The Shadow Scythe is the brother unit to the Katana, possessing the same ARC Reactor technology the Katana possesses.

OoOoOo

"_You Traitor! I will kill you, and that boy!__" _–Kane Hellfury

Mobile Suit Serial Number: GAT-X902 'Akuma'  
Unit Type: Prototype Close Combat mobile suit  
Power plant: Advance Reactor Core (A.R.C)  
Special Equipment: Phase Shift Armor  
Armament: 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm anti-air vulcan gun, 2x beam saber (mounted on the hips), 1x Schwert Gewehr Anti-ship sword, 1x Beam Boomerang, 2x palm-mounted beam cannons

Pilot: Kane Hellfury  
Appearance: Appearance wise, looks like Master Gundam.  
Colors: Primary Black with red trim.  
Info: the third and final mobile suit armed with an ARC reactor.

Disclamer: I do not own the following:

GAT-X305 Raven

Chris Dante

GAT-X310 Zephyre

Liz Dante

GAT-X000 Dragon

Ryu Hisanaga

GAT-X108 Predator

Sebastian Connor

GAT-X130 Grizzly

Lev Mikhal

GAT-X220 lightning

Yuuka Mizuki

They belong to Dragonknightryu, Akatsukileader13, and Storm Wolf 77415.

However, I _do _own:

GAT-X900 Katana

Jordan Takeo

GAT-X901 Shadow Scythe

Matthew Takeo

GAT-X902 Akuma

Kane Hellfury

GAT-X201 Slash

Sarah Lenix


	2. Prolog

They were the best that the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty had to offer. The fourteen men and women were officially designated as a team by the last name of their commanding officer. This designation was rarely used. They were known better by a far fiercer moniker, by both their comrades in arms, and their enemies on the battlefield…the Storm Wolves. Whenever they fought, it was as if they shared a single mind, hunting in a pack like the canine from when they derived their name.

Their leader was a decorated ZAFT veteran. Although he had born in Kansas City, MO, as a citizen of the Atlantic Federation, he was fiercely dedicated to his adopted homeland. He fought in the attempted blockade of C.E. 69, at Junius, and at the Battle of Yggdrasil as part of the team commanded by Rau Le Creuset. He was awarded the Order of the Nebula, and the title of "Supreme Ace" for his part at the Battle of Jachin Due, and it was there that he earned his nickname and thus named his team as well.

Sebastian Connor, the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due. At first glance he seems like any normal 18 year old, 5'6'', dark brown hair and blue eyes, hardly an impressive sight, but if one looks deeper into his two cobalt pools, they'll find much more depth than there should be for a man his age, the look of a seasoned warrior who had seen combat several times over, perhaps _too_ many times. Many people said that he and his teammates were invincible. Then the Battle of Endymion occurred and everything changed.

June 2nd C.E. 70, Endymion Crater, Earth Alliance Supply Base. 2245 hours.

_"My God! How am I going to survive this?" was the only thought that raced through mind of the pilot of the white and green CGUE. As he pushed to its maximum speed, drawing his massive custom built katana, and slicing through two Moebius mobile armors, while using his custom built machine gun to destroy a Zero. _

We're winning, but at this rate, it'll be a pyrrhic victory. No point in being a winner if everyone on _both_ sides are dead.

_"Storm Wolf Leader, this is Storm Wolf Five, I'm under attack, and-AUUGGH!" the frantic message cut off. Sebastian glanced at his display as the blip representing Duncan Cooper, Storm Wolf Five, blinked out. _

_"Damn it! We've lost Cooper! Nine, this Lead, What got him, Shawn?"_

_"It was an Igelstellung battery, Boss. Tore him up like paper!" replied Shawn Mason, Storm Wolf Nine, and Sebastian's XO. _

_"Those cockbites! That's four people we've lost! It's time to get serious!" Sebastian yelled, Sebastian then opened his mouth and let out a piercing animalistic howl. The sound that the gray timber wolf is most famous for is not a normal sound one hears on the battlefield. But there were those on both sides who knew that sound very well, and one of them came through on Sebastian's radio. _

_"Alright Storm Wolf! It's time we settled the score!"_

_"Mu La Flaga? I agree, this day, one of us shall stand, the other shall fall!"_

"_Mu, you sure about that?" another voice, probably Ryu Hisanaga in the X, said._

"_Possitive." Mu replied. "This wont take long!"_

_Sebastian's CGUE accelerated toward a Moebius Zero as its wired gun barrels were deployed. Sebastian used his custom sword to slice one of the control wires away, where the gun pod promptly exploded. Even with the advantage of his mobile suit, Sebastian had to be careful. Mu La Flaga was regarded as being the best Natural pilot around, and having the skill to use the Moebius Zero to its fullest potential, and Mu was pulling out every trick, every bit of experience to keep the Storm Wolf on his toes. _

_As their battle raged, the two veterans picked up a radio transmission from Falcon Squad. _

_"_Ryu_,__" Yuna Falco's voice whispered on the Radio. _"Take care of yourself and keep moving forward like I know you can and always remember, I love you."

_"Yuna?" Ryu asked in confusion as his Prototype X turned around only to see Yuna's red stripped white Zero Kamikaze their target ship right where the engine would be causing a chain reaction blowing the ship up. "YUNA!" he cried out his eyes widening in fear as he hoped beyond hope that he would see her Zero burst through the explosion like he had see many times before only to be damaged beyond what any bullet could hope to accomplish as he and Mu stared in horror. Even Sebastian Connor was in shock at what had just happened._

_Ryu suddenly had a vision of a crystal the same color of his jade-green eyes spiralling through a black background before it shattered in a golden explosion of light causing a wave of clarity to wash over him and his eyes to morph to golden coloured with slitted draconic pupils, letting out a roar that many report to be draconic in nature, a Roar that was equally, if not more Earth-shattering than Sebastian's own signature howl. Ryu charged the Shocked GINNs that surrounded him as Mu and Sebastian watched in utter awe._

"_My God." Sebastian said. "W-whats happening?"_

"_Wolf, I honestly have no clue." Mu replied to the shocked Storm wolf, both of them loosing their will to fight seeing Ryu's onslaught for ten whole minutes._

_Then, fate intervened in the infamous battle._

_"Lead, this is Nine, radiation levels in the base are spiking like I've never seen before! Something's up!"_

_"Oh fuckberries!" Sebastian said, "They couldn't, they wouldn't! Storm Wolves abort! Get out of here now! La Flaga, Ryu, if you value your life, you'll get your ass as far away from here as possible!"_

_Forgetting all about his nemesis, Sebastian aimed his CGUE skyward and put everything into the engines. Sebastian could immediately sympathize with everyone who says they feel their brains get sucked into their feet at launch. _

_"Storm Wolves! Report in!" yelled Sebastian. _

_"Sorry boss, We're too far in the base! We're not going to make it!" said Shawn. _

_"Don't you talk that way to me soldier! Remember my order that I gave everyone on our first day? We all come back alive!" _

_"You also said that even if just one of us survives, then the others will live on through them. Be that person commander, never forget us. Goodbye Sebastian."_

_And with those final words, the Cyclops system activated, and entire base exploded in a flash of white light. Mobile suits and armors alike melted away like ice cubes in a fire, among the machines destroyed were 9 white-and green GINNs, with the black silhouette of a howling wolf on it. Sebastian could only watch and listen as his entire team died and heard their screams. He let out a final cry of anguish before the white light consumed him and all went black._

January 25th, C.E. 71, Orb Space Colony Heliopolis, 0543 hours.

Sebastian sat bolt upright in his bed, his nightclothes and sheets dripping with sweat.

"Ugh, the same damn dream again! Endymion was another life. It's over soldier" He said to himself. Sebastian got out of his bed and padded over to the small kitchen nook of his apartment, where he pulled a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

He then sat down on the side of his bed, and stared at three silver picture frames sitting on the nightstand. One picture was of a massive group of people, over a hundred sitting on the lawn behind a massive house, a large banner which said "CONNOR FAMILY REUNION" strung up behind them. The date on the picture read, 2-14-70, 8:03 AM. The group of people in the second picture was not as large as the first, only 15, but they were just as important to him as the people in the first picture were. The third frame did not contain a picture, but rather an ornate certificate that went with his Order of the Nebula, including an addendum declaring him as "Supreme Ace."

"I'd better get to school. Old Kato will cream me if I'm late. Even if it is my last day", Sebastian thought with a grin, "Shame really, I've gotten fond of this place, But if ZAFT tracks me down, then I have to be ready to leave in an instant." With that, Sebastian got dressed, pulling on faded blue jeans, a gray t-shirt, and a pair of silver rimmed aviator-style sunglasses. He pulled a gun belt from his drawer. People familiar with old handguns would recognize it as a Heckler and Koch .45 USP Tactical. He also strapped to his side a katana in a dark green scabbard, the handle ornately carved with the head of a wolf. He also removed his Order medal from its place of prominence and hung it around his neck, tucking it into his shirt.

He then pulled a duffel bag and backpack out and began packing them. It doesn't take much for this is all he brought with him when he arrived on the colony in October. The three frames go in, as well as few articles of clothing that have significant personal meaning to him. After packing his bags, and turning in his key to the landlord, Sebastian headed down the street toward the technical college he had enrolled in. Sebastian was unaware that in a few hours his life would be changed forever, and the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due would return to the hunt. Along with yet another infamous ace from the war…


	3. Phase 1: Shattered Peace

_ORB Space Colony Heliopolis _Marseille III-_class_

"Y'know Capt. we are either very lucky or walking straight into a trap if that Nazca-class that been following us hasn't attacked us yet," Said a 6' tall blonde haired blue eyed lieutenant with a sinewy frame and lightly tanned skin. "Because I am getting a bad feeling about this."

"Mu you are to paranoid for your own good, how do you sleep at night?" The Capt. asked with a chuckle. Turning serious he said "ZAFT wouldn't dare to try anything now that we are docked in a neutral colony"

"I don't know Capt. my gut hasn't proved me wrong yet," Warned Mu La Flagga "The last time I ignored the feeling Endymion happened and I rather not have this colony destroyed thank you."

The Captain sighed as he looked at the ace pilot "ZAFT is a strong organization and the only reason this war went on is because ORB has maintained its policy of neutrality," He explained as he looked out the viewport at the work crews that are resupplying the ship "they would not dare upset the neutrality that has kept ORB out of this."

Before Mu could respond however several pilots came in and requested permission to disembark. "We would like to get familiar with our new machines as soon as possible." one of the pilots explained to the captain.

"Very well and do be careful ZAFT may have spy's posted here." The captain said as he saluted. He turned to Mu with a resigned look "Do you think they will be alright?" He asked.

"Honestly Captain those kids won't last too long in the machines the Operating System(OS) is far too complicated to be operated during a fight." Mu said honestly with a sigh as a faraway look crossed his face "If only _he_ was still here, than we would at least have a chance at making a better OS."

The Captain grunted his agreement as he knew who Mu was talking about, Mu turned towards the exit "I'll take my squad on patrol" he said over his shoulder "I don't want to get caught with my pants down again, the last time that happened we lost to many good people."

OoOoO

_Nazca_-class _Vesalius_

"Is this wise sir?" asked the ship's captain as the ship floated just beyond the colony's scanner "Shouldn't we at least wait for confirmation from the council?"

"If we don't act now Ades we _will_ surely regret it," a man answered, he was around 6' with long blonde hair that ended at his shoulders, he wore a white mask with reflective glass eyes covering the upper part of his face, and wore the standard white ZAFT commanders uniform, "I have reason to believe that the units are nearly completed, we can't let this opportunity slip us by."

Anders didn't respond but still shifted uncomfortably is his seat as he monitored the bridge. "Still commander Creuset if we do this we risk making ORB our enemy." he said in concern.

Rau le Creuset just smiled at Anders response "Don't worry captain ORB won't dare to retaliate due to the fact that they are already breaking the treaty," he said before frowning "Also Intel states that the 'Dragon of Endymion' in the colony."

The Captains eyes widened "Do you think he's involved?" he asked nervously remembering the havoc he could wreak on the battlefield with his captured prototype mobile suit, the X.

"No he isn't," Rau said as Anders sighed in relief "He is only an assistant to one of the professors on campus, but we still need to be careful to make sure he does not get involved, it's bad enough that Mu la Flagga the 'Hawk of Endymion' is involved, but if he were to help them than things will get difficult for us."

Anders hummed his agreement as two red coat pilots entered the bridge. The first was a male around 20 that stood around 5'8", with black hair in a military style crew cut, and had eyes that were light brown in colour. His companion was a female around 22 with straight sun-blonde hair that went just past her neck, she stood around 5'7", and had deep blue eyes.

"Commander Crueset the teams have launched and are proceeding according to plan." The female said as they both snapped salutes.

"Thank you Naleen, I want you and Jacques to standby in your machines in case of emergency." Rau ordered as he returned the salute.

"Yes sir." The soft spoken man confirmed as the two of the turned to leave.

"Those two truly are opposites," Anders commented after they had left "Silent Death, so quiet that you wouldn't realise he was beside you until he speaks while Golden Eye's you could hear and see her coming from a mile away."

"That's true," Rau agreed at his friends comment "but they are extremely skilled and work flawlessly with each other. If you will excuse me I will go join them in the hanger I have a feeling I will be needed on the field soon." He said as he turned and left the bridge.

Anders sighed after he left "Why is it that the better the pilot the odder they are?" he asked no-one in particular as the crew chuckled.

OoOoO

_Heliopolis, Park_

"Hard to believe that ZAFT actually attacked Kaohsiung, I wonder if ORB will be alright?" A 16 year old female said directing the question to the man sprawled on the bench beside her. She was around 5'5" with wavy chocolate brown hair that fell just past her shoulder blades that framed amethyst coloured eyes that sparkled with kindness, she had a slender frame with C-cup breasts, and was wearing a sleeveless black dress shirt along with black jeans and running shoes.

"To be honest Kira I'm surprised that they didn't attack Kaohsiung sooner due to the mass driver being there" the male teen said lazily yawning towards the end "and as for ORB, not even ZAFT is cocky enough for that due to the fact that ORB has some of the most advanced technology in the world. Taking on ORB _and _the EA would be suicide."

"I know" sighed Kira "but it doesn't stop me from worrying about it Ryu."

She then leaned over and tapped my shoulder to get my attention as I sat next to them.

"Jordan," Kira said exasperated, "if you wanna listen to such horrible music, could you at least turn it down, we can hear it through your headphones."

"Hey, just because you don't like my music, Kira, doesn't mean that it's bad." I responded as I pulled out one of my headphones. "This work would go faster if somebody helped!"

"Hey, I already did my part last night," I retorted.

"How?" Ryu asked jokingly, "Do you not need to sleep?"

"Heh," I responded, "Not at all."

"Ya, well were all just human." Kira said. "We actually need to sleep, ya know?" I smirked at that.

"Well if I were you I would be more worried about the revisions to the Operating System(OS) that the professor gave you."Ryu said slyly with a chuckle. At a distance we would all looked like siblings but as you got closer you could easily spot the difference between us. "I know that Ryu," Kira huffed "but isn't this something you should do? I men you are the Professor's assistant after all."

"Well Kira to be honest I am not the greatest at it, besides _my_ reasonability is to fix all the stuff that you and your friends break." Ryu countered with a laugh as Kira blushed.

"Well If _someone_ didn't cross the wires wrong than it would have worked!" Kira yelled in embarrassment at her friend/mentor who only laughed harder.

"Hey _I _wasn't the one who designed that deathtrap so don't blame me if the schematics were wrong!" He shouted back as he dodged a ball of paper that Kira threw at his head.

"He's got a point, Kira." I said. "Believe me when I say, that could have gone a _LOT _worse than what happened."

"How?" Kira asked. "We blew up almost half the garage, what could have been worse?"

"You could have blown the whole garage." I said, and chuckled.

"Shut up!"Kira shouted back as she crossed her arms across her chest and huffed in agitation "I swear you live just to tease me."

"Of course he does, if he didn't who knows how tense you would be Kira." a mirthful voice said, turning they saw a 5'4" tall male with brown hair and green eyes and a average build, beside him was a 5'3" tall girl with brown hair, blue eyes and a slender frame.

"Plus it's kinda cute how the two of you act like a married couple." The girl giggled as Kira blushed an interesting shade of crimson and Ryu slipped out of his seat and landed on his ass.

"Mir!" Kira shouted at the girl as the said girl started laughing harder "It's not like that!"

"Sure Kira whatever you say, right Tolle?" Mirralia Haw teased as she playfully elbowed her boyfriend Tolle who was laughing at Ryu's flustered expression.

"Professor Kato needs you back at the lab." He said. "Please tell me he doesn't have more work for us?" I pleaded. Tolle nodded. "Are you kidding me!" Kira asked/shouted incredulously "I haven't even finished the last stuff he gave me!"

"Not to mention I'm still working on that blueprint for the Deep Space Survey and Development's (DSSD) newest mobile suit design he wanted me to look over." Ryu chipped in as a green and yellow metallic bird landed on Kira's shoulder.

"Birdie?" It chirped mockingly at Ryu who glared at the machine.

"I. Hate. That. Bird. MOCKING ME!" He shouted pointing at Birdie with a tick mark on his forehead as everyone laughed at him "Why does that that damn bird mock me?"

"'Cause he knows you hate it." Kira giggled "and because it's funny." She added quickly dancing out of Ryu's reach as he took a small swipe at her growling before taking chase throwing paper balls at her as the others followed laughing.

"I'm good." I said, fully removing my ear phones. "Finished it last night."

"Like Kira said," Ryu said. "We are all just human. You, however are not." Tolle then walked over too Kira, and glanced at her laptop. "Some development in the news?" Tolle said. "Ya." Kira said. "Taiwan apparently." Kira showed the news screen as a reporter was talking as two Zaft mobile suits, a GINN and a CGUE, hovered off the ground nearby.

"If this was from a week ago, then they might have taken it over by now." Mir said. "Do you think the homeland will be safe?"

"Aww, don't worry." Tolle said. "They may be close by, but Orb's neutral. We have nothing to worry about."

"For now." I said. Everyone just looked at me. "What's that suppose to mean?" Ryu asked. "Oh, come on." I said. "Sure, chairman Clyne is a great leader, but with people like Patrick Zala around, they will probably end up blowing the whole earth apart if he had the chance." Kira, for some reason looked away.

"I mean, sure." I said. "He lost his wife at Junius 7, but that's no reason to hate every single natural on earth. I mean hell, my older brother was there, and you don't see me hating every natural around me." Everyone just stared at me after that. "What?" I asked. "Your brother was at Junius 7?" Kira asked."Why didn't you ever tell us?" "…its..." I replied. "I…I don't like talking about it. Can we just drop it, please?" everyone nodded. "Well, then." I said, standing up packing my laptop. "Let's get to the lab."

_Elsewhere in Air-ducts_

"All charges set Athrun." A green haired, brown eyed teen around fifteen standing at 5'5" wearing a red ZAFT pilot uniform reported to another teen wearing the same uniform with blue hair, green eyes and standing around 5'7".

"Right, thanks Nicol," Athrun said before turning to the rest of the pilots, 10 were wearing red pilot suits, while another dozen wore green pilot suits "you all know the plan Yzak," pointing to a silver headed, blue eyed, 5'5" tall teen "you get the 'Duel', Dearka," A 5'9" tall blonde haired black eyed teen with heavily tanned skin "you get the 'Buster', Nicol you get the 'Blitz', Lev," a 6' tall giant teen with a thick body, coarse dark brown hair, and light brown eyes "you grab the 'Grizzly', Yuuka," a slender teen girl with an attractive figure, long red hair and sky blue eyes and lightly tanned skin "you're to grab the 'Lightning', Rusty" A 5'6" tall teen with brown hair and eye's "you grab the 'Strike', Matthew" a 5'7 tall, Brown haired, brown eyed teen. "You go with Kane," he pointed to a man 6'1 with Black Raven hair, and blood red eyes. "and inspect the unknown part of the factory for any extra machines. while I grab the 'Aegis'."

With a quick round of "Yes sir" the pilots quickly made their way through the air ducts heading to their objectives.

_Vehicle Terminal_

_Vehicle Terminal_

"I'm telling you guys it's nothing like that!" said the 5'3" tall red headed blue eyed teen girl to her two friends as Kira and her friends approached.

Looking over one of the friends spotted them "Hey Mir!" she shouted "Have you heard, Flay received a _love_ letter from Sai."

"It isn't like that!" Flay protested in embarrassment as the others laughed at her plight "Why won't you believe me?"

As the four gossiped Ryu just shook his head from beside Me, Kira, and Tolle "I honestly have no idea how you can understand that gibberish Kira." He muttered as rubbed his temples with his thumb and middle finger of one hand "Is it some kind of language that all females are born with?" he asked as me and Tolle nodded in agreement.

"Would it make you feel better if I said yes?" she asked with a small laugh before three people caught her eye "Hey look its Sarah, Liz and Chris. Guys! Over here!" she shouted waving at the trio catching their attention.

The sibling Dante's, and Sarah were already heading towards them and waved in acknowledgement "Hey Kira, Ryu, Tolle." Liz greeted happily, she was a 15 year old coordinator that was inch shorter the Mir and had green eyes and light brown, almost dirty blond coloured, shoulder length hair. She was wearing faded blue jeans with a rip in the left knee, and a bizarre purple and black stripped hoodie. Chris meanwhile was a year older than his sister and a couple of inches taller than Kira. He had greyish-green eyes and dark brown hair that was styled into short, slicked back spikes. He was wearing blue jeans with a simple leather belt, a black t-shirt, and a gray unzipped hoodie. A pair of dog tags hung around his neck. Finally, Sarah Lenix, was a 15 young girl with dark brown hair at shoulder length, and matching brown eyes. She wore a sea blue hoodie, with blue jeans.

"How's it goin'? Professor Kato call you guys back as well?" Chris asked pleasantly.

"Yeah apparently he's got more work for us back at the lab." Ryu said groaning "Why did I take that job offer, all I thought it would be is giving advice to you guys every now and then, I think karma has it out for me."

"It has it out for all of us." I said. "But for me, it's all good karma."

"Is that what you said when we went to that Karaoke bar?" Chris said, smiling evilly. "I told you never to speak of that again!" I shouted. "What Karaoke bar?" Ryu asked. "Well, it happened-" Chris started. "Tell them, and die Chris!" I shouted.

Everyone laughed as Kira patted his back reassuringly. A cough interrupted the moment for the group, turning they saw a group of two males and one female standing behind them. The female was 5'9" with black hair and purple eyes and had a no-nonsense attitude about her, the first male was slightly shorter than the female with brown hair and black eyes, the second male had dark brown hair, black eyes and was a couple inches taller than the female. "If you're just going to stand around chatting may we please use the terminal."

Ryu quickly stepped aside with the others "Please go on ahead, we need to wait for our friend to finish gossiping." He said

"Thank you." She said as they walked past and boarded the vehicle. After the group left Kira and her friends minus Flay and her friends boarded their own vehicle and started off to the Labs.

OoOoOo

_Professor Kato's Lab_

As Kira and the others entered the lab a 5'6" tall blonde haired blue eyed teen wearing orange tinted glasses looked up and smiled in greeting at them "Hey guys!" He said in greeting "Glad you're here Kira Professor Kato needed some help on a new Operating System(OS) for a project he's on."

"What! But I'm still working on the stuff he dumped on me the last time!" Kira exclaimed "Why doesn't he dump some of this stuff on Ryu?"

"Because I apparently have to finish a deep space mobile suit design by tomorrow." Ryu said with false excitement before noticing the person in the corner leaning up against the wall. The person was wearing a large trench coat making it impossible to determine the gender, the large bucket hat the guest was wearing didn't help that much either, the only thing Ryu saw was a small tuft of blonde hair peeking out under the hat and light brown almost gold eyes that widened slightly when the person saw Ryu.

"Who is that Sai?" Kira asked the teen that was going over the work with her.

"No clue," the blonde admitted "Some friend of the professor's apparently. Anyway I'll help you out with this stuff." He said as the two of them sat down and began working.

Narrowing his eyes at the blonde stranger Ryu studied the person more closely before sighing and getting back to work on the blueprints '_They better be damn grateful that I'm doing this,_' he thought '_I'm gonna have to pull an all nighter to get the 401's blueprints done._' Settling in he started typing away on his computer putting the stranger out of his mind. '_We need to find a suitable way to allow the 401 to catch the solar winds so that it doesn't run out of energy, nuclear energy is all well and good outside of the N-jammers range, but even that has a limit._'

OoOoOo

_Vesalius_

"Begin the operation!" Ades ordered as the crews leapt to obey.

Inside the hanger Rau le Crueset sat in his white Cgue watching as several Ginn's launched 'Hmm, this sensation, could it be La Flaga?' he thought to himself before bringing his own suit to the catapult "Ades I'm launching as well." He said over the radio "Naleen and Jacques standby for sortie but do not launch just yet."

"_Understood sir,_" came the Naleen's reply "_Good luck and fly safe sir._"

"Will do, Rau le Crueset, Cgue, launching!" He shouted as his suit was launched down the catapult.

OoOoOo

_Harbour_

"Dammit I _hate_ it when I'm right!" Mu shouted as he dodged yet more gunfire from some Ginn's who had started attacking the harbour blowing up the _Marseille III-class_ that he came in on "What the _hell_ is ZAFT thinking attacking an ORB colony, unless... SHIT, I don't know how but they know about the G-weapons."

Feeling his danger sense flash he quickly through his Zero into a tight 180 turn and fired his linear gun at another Ginn that approached from behind. As he was occupied with the Ginn several others flew past and entered the colony "Dammit!" Mu swore as he finished the Ginn. He was about to chase after them when he suddenly felt another awareness around him 'Could it be... Rau le Crueset.' He wondered as he flew through the wreckage. Suddenly pulling his machine into a steep dive he managed to dodge several shots from a white Cgue that came out from behind a piece of wreckage.

"Can you sense me just as I can sense you? Mu la Flaga?" Rau mocked over an open channel "You always have gotten in the way of my plans, although you probably could say the same to me."

OoOoOo

Sebastian walked down the streets of Heliopolis, bags in hand, sword and gun at side. He had every intention of heading to school, and telling Professor Kato that he was leaving. As he walked, he seemed a man half dead, the nightmare of Endymion and something far worse torturing his mind.

"Why do I let myself be this way?" Sebastian muttered, "Mom and Dad would soon crack upside the head than let me wallow in this pit of misery. Then again, they're both dead, so they really can't do anything about it."

Sebastian continued to walk robotically down the sidewalk along a storefront, wondering if his life could get any worse than it already was, when it did just that.

"Hello Mr. Connor! Going on a little trip?" a melodic, superior sounding voice rang from behind. Sebastian paled and whirled around, coming face to face with a red-haired girl wearing a pink dress.

_Flay Allster! The _last_ person I wanted to see! Okay Sebastian, you're going to the school, telling Kato you have to leave, and you'll never have to see her again!_

"Yes Miss Allster, that's exactly what I'm doing, I've got a family emergency, and I'm needed back home" said Sebastian as evenly as possible, just wanting to get away from her.

"Must be quite the emergency if you've packed as much as you have" said Flay, noticing the duffle bag, and backpack.

"Well, what can I say? I'm going to be there for quite a while. I notice that your little crew isn't with you. Where are they?"

"They're inside, but I saw you passing by with your bags, and I just had to know what was going on."

_Yeah right_, Sebastian thought, _you just want to know if there's any dirt involved, if you found out the real reason I couldn't stay, I'd have to kill you!_

Fortunately, Sebastian was spared any more attempts at making an excuse to get out from under Flay's prying azure eyes, when a massive explosion went off not too far down the street. Flay screamed and crouched in a ball. In that instant, Sebastian sprung into full soldier mode. His HK almost magically came out in his hand. He grabbed Flay and held her protectively.

Flay's eyes widened. "W-what's going on?"

"I don't know, I don't know!" Sebastian said hurriedly.

"What about my friends?" said Flay.

"Can't worry about them! Let's run!" Sebastian and Flay took off running. An angry whining sound pierced the air. Sebastian and Flay looked up and stopped dead in their tracks. Two ZGMF-1017 GINNs buzzed them, followed by a collection of other ZAFT suits.

"ZAFT? Why is ZAFT here?" shrieked Flay, "This is a neutral colony! They can't do this!" But Sebastian wasn't paying attention to the girl. His thoughts were on something else.

"_Has ZAFT tracked me down? No, they're here for something else. Even if they had found me they wouldn't go to all this trouble just to capture one man._"

"Flay, I'm going to take you to one of the shelters. You'll be safe there" Sebastian said gently.

"What about you?" said Flay visibly concerned.

"I'm going to check out and see what's going on. Could you hold onto this for me?" he replied, giving her his duffle bag.

"Yeah, sure," she said uneasily, taking the bag.

"Thanks, you're doing me a big favor. I've got some precious treasures in there, which I really don't want to lose. Oh, take this as well." He pulled his sword off and gave it to her as well. Flay's eyes widened in surprise when he pushed the ornate blade into her hands, but felt it better not to ask.

After ushering Flay into a shelter, Sebastian took off down the street, determined to find out what was going on.

_Inside Heliopolis_

"That's it," said Yzak smugly as he looked through his binoculars. "There they are… just like Commander Le Creuset told us." "What? That if we prod them enough, they'll crawl out of the holes they were hiding in?" asked Dearka, chuckling. "Of course," replied Yzak in a cocky tone. "After all, the Naturals are stupid and pathetic." Rusty sighed. "You really shouldn't underestimate your enemies, Yzak," he said. "That can, and most likely will, get you killed. Remember, Naturals _did_ create Coordinators.""Hmph. Natural lover…" Yzak shot back, "I don't 'love' naturals." Kelsey replied. "Nor do I hate them. They are all just people."

"As much as I agree with Yzak in this," Kane said. "We have a mission here. I can see five of the machines already, the other two are probobly still inside the facility me and Matthew are too investigate."

"Rusty and I will go and secure the ones in the warehouse the rest of you grab yours if it's there, if not then grab the closest one." Athrun said when suddenly the entire colony shook and several mobile suits came in firing at the convoy "There's the signal. Go, go, go!"

Activating their thrusters the team made their way down to the convoy fire off shots from their assault rifles. Landing beside one of the trucks Yuuka quickly dispatched the guards around the truck and checked inside the convoy transport "Lightning has been secured." She said into her radio as she climbed into the mobile suit.

"Grizzly secured." Came Lev's confirmation as he got into his own suit.

"Duel secured"-Izack

"Buster secured"-Dearka

"Blitz secured, let's get these back now." Nicole Suggested as he activated the Phase shift armour turning the suit black before taking off. The rest quickly followed suit a followed Nicol out as the Ginns continued to wreak havoc.

_Professors lab_

"What the hell was that!" Chris shouted as the station shook "Is everyone alright?"

A quick course of affirmatives and Ryu cursing about his luck followed the question. "Did a meteor ht us?" Liz asked in confusion as everyone stood back up.

"No, it wasn't" Ryu said opening a safe under his desk and pulling out a scoped MP5, every one's eyes widened at the sight of the gun "That was someone attacking the colony. Everyone is to make their way to a safety shelter stick together and do _not _separate from each other." He order as he pulled out several clips and a flak jacket.

Leading the way Ryu led them down several corridors when the professors guest suddenly took off down one of the side corridors. "Hey wait!" Kira shouted Running after the guest.

"Kira!" Chris shouted as both he, Myself, Sarah and Liz took off after the pair.

"Mother Fucker!" Ryu cursed as he ran after them "Get to the shelters!" he ordered over his shoulder.

Kira and the others managed to catch up to the guest just as another explosion rocked the building causing everyone but Ryu to fall. It also caused the guest's hat to fall off revealing long blonde hair and a feminine face. "You're a girl?" Chris stated dumbly as he thought she was a guy.

"What the hell did you think I was?" The girl shouted as Kira, Sarah and Liz glared at Chris who was looking very uncomfortable at the moment. _Hehehe, Irony. _I thought.

"Now is _really_ not the time for that." Ryu growled as he walked forward "Thanks to Blondie there our original route is cut off," looking behind them the group saw that the passageway was indeed collapsed "This way, we'll go though the factory and go to the shelter there. This time _stay_ close." He said directing the last part to the blonde who gulped. "I'd sudjest listening to him." I said.

Leading the way Ryu led them to the factory floor and unfortunately the only way had gunfire erupting from it. Entering into the factory they saw several ZAFT soldiers attacking the dock workers that were defending several mobile suits in shipping containers. The group stared in shock at the machines as the guests shouted out something about a father betraying them, noticing that ZAFT had saw them Ryu pushed them along towards the shelter while keeping an eye on the battle for anyone aiming at them.

Reaching the shelter Ryu hit the comm system "Open up we have several civilians that need an evac now!" he shouted over an explosion.

"_There is no more room here, we can take one more however._" The reply came back slightly fuzzy. Looking back Ryu was torn between who to throw into the elevator, he really wanted to secure Kira's safety the most. Almost reading his thoughts Kira grabbed the guest and shoved her into the elevator as the guest protested.

"We can go to the other side." Kira stated over the girls arguments "We know this place better than you do so we will be fine." Hitting the door control they watched the girl pound on the door in protest "C'mon let's double back." Kira said as Ryu took point.

As they crossed the walkway Kira happened to look down just as a ZAFT soldier started sneaking up on one of the mechanics "Watch out!" She shouted to the mechanic who reacted on instinct and turned and shot the soldier sneaking up at her.

"Chris! Liz! Kira! Jordan! Sarah! Ryu! What are you doing here?" shouted Chris and Liz's aunt Johanna who was taking cover behind one of the mobile suits "Get down here now!"

Taking a risk Kira listened to her and leapt over the railing and landed beside the mechanic who she shouted at earlier just as the said mechanic got hit by a bullet. Aiming his MP5 Ryu started raining bullets at any of the ZAFT soldiers not behind cover as Chris joined his mom while Liz joined their uncle Nick who had been shot in the stomach. Sarah moved into a mobile suit with a massive sword on its right arm.

Ryu quickly leapt down to the final mobile suit just as one of the ZAFT reds got there acting on reflex Ryu leapt out of the way as the red shot off some bullets until his clip ran empty. Bringing up his own gun Ryu tried to shoot but a definitive 'click' informed him that he was out of bullets, using his now empty gun he blocked a knife swipe from the red and quickly placed a heel right in the pilot's solar plexus before leaping into the suits cockpit and starting the boot sequence.

_**G**__eneral_

_**U**__nilateral_

_**N**__eural-link_

_**D**__ispersive_

_**A**__utonomic_

_**M**__aneuver Synthesis System _

Glancing over Ryu saw that a ZAFT red had been charging Kira and the mechanic and just as he was about to do something he saw the red freeze in shock as Kira murmured something. Ryu sighed in relief as she was dragged into the cockpit of the suit they were standing on. The six suits in the warehouse stood up as the building collapsed around them framing the in a sea of flames.

_Jordan_

I noticed that though everyone had gotten into a machine, they seemed to have forgotten about little old me. _Bastards. _I thought. I then was about to turn to get out of the Hanger when something moved in the corner of my vision. I glanced around to see two civilians run through a doorway.

"_Mom? Dad?_" I whispered, but my eyes widened as two Zaft reds followed them. _Oh no. _I thought as my eyes widened I then made a mad dash past the door.

When I entered the doorway, I found myself inside another hanger, this one with three mobile suits similer to the ones in the hanger I had just left. As I ran forward, I saw a sight that tore my heart open.

On the ground, my own Father lied down, his chest rattled with bullets. His eyes wide open in lifeless shock. I fought myself not to cry, but I was failing misriblly. I took a moment to close his eyes, and I grabbed the pistol he held in his hand.

I then ran forward where I saw my mother fight off the two Zaft soldiers. While one was actively shooting her, for some reason the second soldier didnt seem to be shooting to kill.

But at the moment, I didn't care. All I saw were two people trying to kill the last piece of my family, and I was not gonna let that happen. I jumped down to where they were and I took cover behind a set of crates. As I turned around the cover, my fathers pistol in hand, I turned just in time to see one of the Zaft soldiers fire their rifles at my Mother.

The rounds from the rifle hit my mother in the chest, and time seemed to slow as she fell to the ground. It felt like my heart had suddenly stopped working, and my chest turned to ice. _…no…_I thought in horror. _No…n…not my parents…_

The Zaft red walked up to my mother's body, and I herd him lauph evily. "Pathetic Natural." He said.

What was first sadness in my heart, quickly transformed into pure rage, and Anger.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I fired the pistol at the Zaft soldier.

The Zaft red saw my attack, and ducked and rolled backwards to dodge the bullets. He then jumped up, his rifle aimed right at me.

My eyes widened, he had me. There was no way I could dodge into cover in time. All I could do was stand there as he decended upon me.

There was a series of bullets, but not from his rifle. The _second _Zaft soldier suddenly started firing at his own Comrad. The first zaft soldier managed to dodge again. "Matthew, what the hell are you doing?" He shouted.

"I am not going to stand around and watch you kill civilians Kane!" the second soldier said. But oddly, his voice…it was strangly familure.

Kane growled. "Traitor." He muttered. "The Commander will hear of this!" with that, Kane hopped away into one of the three machines. The cockpit closed, and the machine lifted off out of the hanger.

The soldier that saved me then turned to face me. "Jordan, are you alright?" he asked.

I raised my gun at him. "Who are you?" I demanded. "How do you know my name?"

The man managed to chuckle slightly as he removed his helmate. "Now, is that the way you should be treating your older Brother Jordan?" he said.

When his face was revealed, my eyes widened in amazement. "M-Matthew?" I stuttered. "Y-your-"

"Alive?" he finished. "Repots of my death were obviously false. I would have tried to contact you earlier, but communications between orb and zaft went down after Junius 7."

I dropped the pistol. "B-but mom…and dad…" I said, looking at mom's lifeless body.

Matthew sighed in regreat. "I didn't know at first," he admitted. "But when Kane killed our Father, I was in shock. So I tried to just wound mom so we could just take her prisoner." His face then became twisted in rage. "But Kane…" he said. Hate in his voice. "I should have known that bastard would have shot to kill."

His face then returned to sadness. "I'm so Sorry, Jordan." He said. "I…I should have stopped him faster. If I tried I could have-"

"Stop matt." I said, cutting him off. "First off, what's done is done. That guy, Kane, Killed our Parents. Not you. You Matthew, did not kill them. So it was not your fault."

I then walked up closer to him. "But, on the brighter side of things," I said. "At least…I still have some family left."

I then gripped him into a brotherly hug. He was shocked at first, but soon after, he returned the hug. "I never thought I'd see you again, Big Brother." I said, now on the verge of crying.

Matthew smiled. "I never thought I'd see you again either…Little brother." He said.

We then separated. "Come on." He said, gesturing to our mothers body. "We have to at least straighten her out."

I nodded. A few minutes later, we dragged out mothers body next to our Fathers, both with their eyes closed now, and lying down side by side.

We gave them a small moment of silence, so many memories of them with me, and my Brother filled my mind. I could only guess Matthew was having a similar reaction.

It was then, I noticed something in my Mothers Pocket. "What's this?" I asked as I reached in for it.

When I pulled my hand out, I almost choked.

It was a small model of a mobile suit. It had a slim body, its legs, arms, and face were painted white, its chest and torso was a dark blue with a red trim. But the most fascinating feature, were its four white Angelic wings on its back.

"Jordan…Is that…" Matthew said.

"The Gundam." I finished.

**2 years ago**

"_Mom, I finished it!" I shouted, as I showed my custom-made mobile suit. "Oh, Jordan it looks wonderful!" My mother said. "What is it called?" "Hmm," I thought. "…How about…Gundam." "Gundam?" She said, trying the name out. "An interesting name." "Sounds perfect." My brother said, packing his bags to leave for the PLANT's. "It sounds great. Mobile Suit Gundam." _

**Present**

I looked back up at the two remaining mobile suits. "They…look just like it." I said, eyes in tears. "Though there are differences…theres no doubt…"

"Come on, Jordan." Matthew said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "We gotta go."

I nodded. "I'll take the left, you get the right." He said. As he jogged to the one on the left. I glanced at my parents one last time. "Goodbye Mom…Dad." I said as I glanced at the Gundam Model. "I promise you…He will pay. Kane will pay dearly for what he did today." I then ran towards the Gundam on the right.

**(A/N: Begin playing hoono no tobira, Link: http: / www . youtube . com /watch?v=uIFeyAlZoZs Just remove the spaces)**

I hopped into the cockpit of the mobile suit. I quickly found, and pressed the activation switch.

**MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM  
/Version NV8 – N099/  
G**eneral**  
U**nilateral**  
N**euro – Link  
**D**ispersive  
**A**utonomic**  
M**aneuver

**G.U.N.D.A.M**

**GAT-X900 Katana**  
**O.M.N.I. Enforcer**

I couldn't help but smile. _Mobile Suit Gundam. _I thought one last time. "_Jordan, You ready?_" Matthew said on the Radio.

I nodded. "Ya, I'm ready." I said. "Say, what's your suit called?"

"_Uh…GAT-X901 Shadow Scythe._" He said. "_Yours?_"

"GAT-X900 Katana." I replied. "Notice the operating system opening?"

"_Ya, I did._" Matthew said, with a smile on his own face. "_We'll get him, Jordan. I promise you this right now, we will kill Kane for what he did._"

"I know we will, Big Brother." I said. "Now then, without further adu, Jordan Takeo, Katana Gundam, Lets Rock and Roll!"

The Katana's armor changed from dull grey, into white and red as it launched from the hanger bay.

Matthew smiled as his Brother took off. _Brothers to the end. _He thought. "Matthew Takeo, Shadow Scythe Gundam, Lets Cut em up!"

His own Gundam's Armor transformed into Black, Red, Gold and White, and blasted out of the Hanger, following his Brother.

_**Sebastian**_

Sebastian took off down the street, he then suddenly heard another explosion.

"That came from Morgenroete! What could ZAFT want there?" said Sebastian. When he arrived at the factory, Sebastian drew his HK and slowly made his away among the massive hangers. He peeked inside one and saw a mobile suit! Sebastian sighed in frustration, recalling a briefing in what seemed another era and what he saw in the Morgenroete database back in November.

"So, the Earth Alliance prototypes are finished. ZAFT must be here to capture them", Sebastian came to a grim realization, "If they study them, it could contribute to GENESIS' completion, and then it won't matter if they kill me or not! Oh crap!" As Sebastian stood there, contemplating what he should do next, the ground shook, and four of the mobile suits emerged from their hangers.

"Shit! They already have seven of them! I can't let them have any more new toys!" Sebastian said. He ran into the hanger, determined now. He climbed the scaffold to see a flash of red heading toward the mobile suit, he climbed faster.

"I've got to beat him," said Sebastian. He made it to the top just as the pilot was near the cockpit. Sebastian pulled his USP.

"FREEZE!" he yelled, "Don't take another step!"

The pilot stood uncertain, hand near his sidearm.

"Step away from the mobile suit. Leave this place now, and you'll be spared. If you try anything, I will shoot, and let me assure you, I won't miss" said Sebastian, ice in his voice.

The pilot hesitated, and then broke for the cockpit. A shot rang out, glass shattered, and the visor of the pilot's helmet exploded, a hole right between the eyes.

"I warned you," Sebastian said in a low tone, "Forgive me comrade, but it had to be done."

He opened his backpack and pulled out a ZAFT style flight suit in basic green, followed by matching helmet. He quickly donned the suit, an exercise he could do in his sleep. Sebastian tossed his bag into the cockpit, and climbed in. He marveled at the complexity of the instruments as he turned the machine on.

_General_

_Unilateral_

_Neuro-link_

_Dispersive_

_Autonomic_

_Manuever_

_GAT-X108 PREDATOR._

"GUNDAM?" Sebastian said, staring at the writing on the screen, "Well, they certainly sprung for the full extras package on this one. Although this OS is crap, even I could do a better job. Lucky I paid attention in class."

Even thought Sebastian was an excellent pilot, he was lacking a little in computer skills, after attending the Morgenroete technical college he had improved greatly, but was still no engineer. Sebastian quickly rewrote the OS, it wasn't perfect, but it would be enough for him until he could get the machine to someone who was better equipped to do so. He then stared at the screen.

"GAT-X108 Predator, so, that's what you're called? Appropriate name. Alright, let's see about weapons" Sebastian called up the stores, "Igelstellungs, 37mm cannon, Armor Schenider knives, Beam saber? It's no katana but it's something!" the machine drew a beam saber from an arm compartment. Sebastian's eye then fell on a simple lever.

"Phase Shift Armor? Let's check it out." Sebastian turned the lever and the machine went from gunmetal grey to white, the chest turned a dark forest green, Sebastian couldn't help but smile "I don't what this is, but something tells me it will be useful."

Predator slowly made its way out of the hanger. Sebastian quietly reflected on what he was doing.

"I vowed to never fight again! I simply wanted to keep quiet, and pray that cooler heads would prevail and see that the war ended before GENESIS was deployed! That's no longer an option. I have to get involved again, and keep that nightmare from becoming reality, for everybody's sake!

A series of explosions occurred out of the corner of Sebastian's right eye.

"Looks like the party has kicked into gear! I don't want be late."

Predator shot into the sky and headed for the battle.


	4. Phase 2: Mobile Suit GUNDAM

Kira was breathing quickened unconsciously as the mobile suit she was in rose up, she could not believe it, Athrun Zala, A peace-loving boy who hated the thought of war was a part of ZAFT and was attacking Heliopolis? '_Why Athrun?_' She asked herself '_Why are you doing this?_'

"This is GAT-X105 Strike," the mechanic that was piloting the Strike said over the radio "GAT-X000 Dragon, GAT-X305 Raven, GAT-X310 Zephyr, GAT-X201 Slash, respond on this channel."

"_GAT-X000 Dragon here,_" Ryu's voice crackled over the radio with sharp precision "_Give me a second, I'm trying to work out the kinks in the OS. Kira are you alright?_"

"I'm fine Ryu, just a bit shook up." Kira responded and smiled when she heard Ryu sighed in relief and was about to say something when the mechanic interrupted her.

"Who are you?" She asked insistently "I don't recognize you as any of the G-weapon pilots."

"_Relax Ramius,_" Chris, Sarah and Liz's aunts voice came through the radio "_He can be trusted, Liz are you there?_"

"_U-uncle Nick is d-dead._" Liz stuttered out still in shock of what happened "_I-I couldn't do anything._"

"_It's alright Liz I know you did your best._" Johanna soothed before returning to the situation at hand.

"_Ramius, let the girl with you, Kira, pilot the suit, she will be able to fix and use the OS._"

"What a civilian?" Ramius asked in shock "Are you kidding me let a civilian pilot top-secret mobile suits? Kids no less."

"_Would you rather die?_" Ryu asked impatiently as he finished his calibrations and activated his suits phase-shift (PS) turning the suit black and woodland green "_Miss Dante I assume that Chris will be piloting the Raven, and Sarah the Slash then?_"

"_Yes_""_WHAT!_" came the reply

"_Kira, Chris, Sarah get started on the re-calibrations,_" Ryu snapped the order making everyone flinch "_Chris you protect your sister and Sarah. Kira support me when your able, I'll keep the GINNs busy._" Before anyone could say anything Ryu activated his twin thrusters and launched the Dragon at the incoming group of incoming enemies.

_With Ryu_

'_Armaments: CIWS '_ Igelstellung_', no good in this situation, to many enemies; IWS: Hydra Missile Shield, no good either possible collateral Type 71 beam rifle also can badly damage exterior wall,_' Ryu thought to himself as he scrolled through the weapons of his mobile suit '_I guess that leaves the '_Mesamune_' heat blade._' Taking a deep breath he unfolded the heat blade and held it at the ready, exhaling he started attacking the mobile suits in front of him.

Dodging the shots from the GINN in front of him Ryu lashed out with the blade destroying the offending gun before boosting back to dodge several more shots from his opponents partner. Gritting his teeth Ryu fired his Igelstellungs forcing the suit to back off, his danger sense flashing Ryu quickly brought up his shield and blocked the sword thrust of another mobile suit. Narrowing his eyes he saw that four of the seven attacking mobile suits were surrounding him as the other three moved to attack his friend "Watch out the enemy is heading to your position!" He called out over the radio alerting the others.

_Back to Kira_

Hearing Ryu's warning Kira quickly forced Ramius out of the pilots seat and pulled out the keyboard and started rapidly typing away to fix the mobile suit's OS mentally reviewing everything Ryu told her about mobile suits and their designs.

Flashback

_"Every mobile suit no matter how advance is reliant on one thing," Ryu instructed Kira and her friends as they sat around in professor Kato's lab. It was a year after Ryu had started working with them as Kato's assistant and Kato had asked Ryu to instruct them on mobile suit design and production "It is reliant on its OS, without it the mobile suit cannot function or even move. The only reason that ZAFT is the only one using mobile suits is not because the EA is unable to, but because coordinators are the only ones able to handle an OS that fully brings out the mobile suits performance, as of yet there has been no successful attempt at a natural-use OS."_

_"But why are we learning this though," Sai asked in confusion "None of us want to be mobile suit designers or engineers."_

"_I actually do." Jordan said as he relaxed into his chair._

_Ryu laughed a little at this "True," he admitted "but it never hurts to know something like this, if the worst comes and ORB is forced into the war and you know how to design or repair mobile suits than you will be able to avoid getting sent to the front lines, that is why I am instructing you on this." His face adopts a forlorn look "The frontlines is where nobody should be sent especially ones as young as you."_

_"But your only two years older than us," Kira protested "Shouldn't you be included in '_ones as young as you_'?"_

_Ryu only chuckled sadly as an answer._

End Flashback

_With Chris_

Chris was doing the same as Kira, and Sarah trying to get his sister to do the same as well when a Pair of GINNs landed in front of them guns at the ready "Oh fuck!" he swore as he brought up his duel hyper velocity shield cannon to block the shots as he activated his PS turning the suit Midnight blue with red trimming before returning fire with his Igelstellungs forcing the suit to dodge to the left, unfortunately he forgot about the second suit and was tackled to the ground by said mobile suit who now stood over him with its heavy sword at the ready to stab him.

"_NO Chris, Aunt Johanna!_" Liz shouted firing her beam rifle at the suit missing by good bit.

It served the purpose however as the suit was distracted long enough for Chris to bring his cannons to bear and fired off a shot at point blank to the cockpit destroying the suit. Gritting his teeth as the Raven slid along the ground, blown back by the explosion "Aunt Johanna are you alright?" Chris asked in concern as he stood the suit back up beside his sister's mobile suit as she activated her PS turning her suit light blue with red trim and bronze joints.

"I'm fine just a little dazed." She replied "just focus on the enemy."

"R-right." He stuttered as he turned back to the final GINN who was bringing his rifle to bear. Activating the thrusters Chris dodged to the right while approaching the suit and drawing one of the beam sabers at the suits waist. "Eat this!" he shouted slashing at the suit who jumped back.

Chasing the GINN he slashed once more as it dropped its gun and brought it sword to bear, unfortunately the sword did very little and ended up cut in half as Chris' saber continued its original path and cut the cockpit. Remembering what happened the last time he hit the cockpit he jumped back just before it exploded clearing him from the blast radius.

_Back to Kira (Gee, I wonder who the main character is?)_

Kira grunted as her suit collided with the ground after the enemy delivered a particularly nasty kick, on the upside though she was finished with the reconfigurations to the Strike '_Now weapons, what the.._'"Armor Schneider that's it!" she yelled incredulously before gritting her teeth and flipping the mobile suit to its feet avoiding the downward thrust of the GINN's sword. Glancing behind the suit her eyes widened in fear at the sight of her friend '_What are they _doing _here_!'

Narrowing her eyes she faced the suit again and pulled out the Anti-Armor knives and charged the enemy strafing to the right to dodge the shots being fired by the GINN. "Stop it!" She shouted stabbing the joints of the two arms of the mobile suit. Everything was still for a minute before the pilot ejected from the suit.

"Get away from the suit!" Ramius shouted in panic, right before the suit self-destructed causing Kira to recoil violently and the mechanic to smash her head on the bulkhead.

"_Kira are you alright?_" Chris' worried voice came over the radio.

"I'm alright, but Miss Ramius smashed her head on the bulkhead." She reported as the stood the suit back up, checking the surrounding area she sighed in relief as she saw he friends cautiously come out of their hidey-hole.

_With Ryu_

Ryu ducked under a sword swing from a mobile suit and returned the favor by thrusting his sword into the central wiring array in the suits chest disabling it, bringing his shield up he blocked shots from the GINN approaching from the right as another, the one he initially disarmed came in from the left sword in hand. Activating his thrusters and launched himself into the air dodging the left suits thrust '_Now where is the third?_' he asked himself in a bored tone '_Not behind, so, that leaves ABOVE!_' Pushing his suit into a barrel roll that many thought only possible in mobile armors Ryu dodge the sudden slash from the final mobile suit surprising the pilot long enough for Ryu to slash off one of the arms followed up by a kick to the cockpit sending the suit down to the ground and the pilot dazed.

Keeping his thrusters active he swerved to avoid ground fire from the suit still armed before diving at it and shearing off its head rendering it blind. Landing behind it he kicked the suit to the second one causing them to collide and fall to the ground in a heap before they could do anything though Ryu drew his beam rifle and shot then blowing them both up.

Suddenly five more GINN's arrived to the scene. "Damnit, I cant keep holding them off like this." He said to himself.

Then suddenly, a new mobile suit that appeared very similer to the Strike dropped in. _Please tell me it has one of our guys inside it._ Ryu thought.

Suddenly, the Radio's snapped to life. and the enraged howl of a timber wolf emerged through the air. All combat on the battle stopped for a whole minute.

"_Sebastian Connor? That can't be possible! You're supposed to be dead!_" said a GINN pilot.

"_Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!_" said the Infamous Storm Wolf of Jachin Due. _God Damnit! _Ryu thought. _My luck CANT be that bad!_ "_So, Miguel Aiman, you're here? If you know me, then you also know that you have as much chance of beating me as a guy with a pocket knife beating someone in a sword fight!_"

"_Does that mean? TRAITOR!_" Miguel screamed as his GINN charged directly at the Predator, Sebastian simply sidestepped, and relieved the GINN of its head, then sliced it clean down the middle.

"_Idiot! Miguel was good, but even he should have known better_."

…_ok, I was right. My luck isn't that bad. _Ryu thought. Before Ryu could move towards the other four GINN's, the Storm Wolf took the liberty of moving in for himself.

The Strike-like suit jumped up into the air, the GINN's opened fire upon the Mobile suit, but its Phase-Shift armor took the hits as if they were nothing. Sebastian then took out his two Assault knives in his Mobile suit's holsters, and tossed them at two of the GINN's. the knives impacted, instantly destroying them.

He then landed right infront of another GINN, the Zaft suit swung its GINN sword, but the Storm wolf ducked under it, and slashed the GINN down the mid-section with his beam saber.

As Sebastian moved towards the last GINN, another explostion from Morgenrotte blasted through. Out of the fires of the facility, another mobile suit, this one almost completely black, with a Red trim, soared out of the ruined building.

"_This is Kane Hellfury to any Zaft personel within Heliopolis. Do you read me?_" A cold voice on the radio said.

"_Sir! Intel was wrong._" The GINN pilot said. "_There were more machines than what Intel reported. The enemy has a total of 5 suits of their own!_"

"_Make that Seven._" Kane said.

"_Seven?_"

Just then, two more mobile suits jumped from the ruins of Morgenrotte. One was Red, White, and black, and the other was Black with a red and gold trim, and white limbs.

Then the red one drew out its two Katana swords, and attached them to form a duel-bladed katana sword, it then twirled the duel-bladed weapon over its head, and snapped into a combat position against the machine Kane piloted. The Black-white suit made a similer pose, twirling its beam scythe from left to right, and then snapped into a combat pose against the machine as well.

"_Whoa._" Sebastian said. "_I like the red one! I wonder if the pilot will trade out with mine? Those Katana's are sweet!_"

Then the red and black suits went in opposite directions, one left, and one right, to flank the black suit. Kane rose its mobile suits hands, and fired a volley of beams from the mobile suit hands. The two suits dogged the shots easily, then the Red one jumped, its katana blade descending upon the black suit.

The black mobile suit side-stepped, missing the blade. But then the red suit dragged the sword against the concrete streets, and attempted to hit it again. But the black suit evaded again. Then, the suit with the beam scythe appeared from behind it, and rose its scythe against the black suit.

Kane swore and jumped away. "_Bastards._" He said. "_I'll kill you…I'll kill all of you!_" he then flew away, from out of Heliopolis.

_Sebastian_

The Storm wolf whistled at the combat between the two suits, and Kane's own machine. _I'll give those guys credit, they know how to use a mobile suit. _He thought as he turned to face the other machines.

Sebastian then noted four kids running toward the other mobile suits.

"Tolle Koenig? Mirailla Haw? Kuzzey Buskirk and Sai Argyle?" Sebastian remarked, noticing his friends from school, "What are they doing here?"

Then the hatch on the other mobile suits opened and Sebastian got his answer as a young woman, with dark brown hair and purple eyes stepped out of the machine. Soon after, additional people came from the other suits, except the black and red ones.

"Kira Yamato, Ryu Hisanaga, Christopher Dante, Liz Dante, and Sarah Lenix, they was piloting those things? Well, for Ryu that's nothing being who I _know _who he really is, but if those other kids could pilot those machines so easily, that means they all have to be Coordinators like me. Okay, things have just gotten really interesting."

_Chirs _

As Chris and his friends exited their machines, the three mystery machines then walked towards them. Ryu was on edge, ready to hop back into the Dragon if things get too bad.

The cockpits of the black and red suit opened. From the red one, a very familure figure emerged. "Jordan! There you are!" Kira shouted. "Where did you get those machines?"

"They were in a hanger inside the factory." Jordan replied. Then the second pilot stepped out, revealing a man wearing a red Zaft pilot suit.

This got everyone on edge. "Jordan, Who's that?" Ryu asked wearily, edging towards the Dragon.

"Relax guys, he's with me." Jordan said as he and the Zaft Pilot lowered themselves down.

Jordan then faced the Green suit. "But…who's in that one?" he asked.

"I have an Idea..." Ryu said. As the Predator settled down next to the other suits, everyone looked nervously at the machine. As a figure clad in a green flight suit and a white-gray helmet emerged. As he removed the helmet, Mir gasped in shock.

"Sebastian Connor?" said Sai. You were flying that thing?"

"Oh, Come on Sai." Jordan said. "Did you honestly think that's the biggest surprise today? At this point, if Patrick Zala were to materialize in mid air in front of us, along with an army of CGUE's, I wouldn't even bat and eye."

"Long story, is everyone here okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're all fine" said Tolle, "Thanks to you and the others."

Murrue's gun hand shook, but she couldn't let these civilians walk away, having seen the G-Weapons, especially since the ones known as Kira, Chris, Liz, Ryu, Sarah, the apparent 'Traitor' zaft pilot and Jordan had flown them well enough to stop a small army of GINN's and a G-Weapon. , and then there was the unknown pilot of the Predator, although she suspected she knew who it was from the howl.

"Okay, everyone! Now that you have seen these weapons, I cannot allow you to leave!"

Sebastian stepped forward, no fear on his face.

"What are you going to do? Shoot them? I could pull my gun, and empty the entire clip into you, before you could even pull the trigger the first time. You're terrified, I can tell." Murrue's hand was shaking so much now, she could barely hold the pistol. Sebastian gently took the gun from her.

"You're him aren't you? The Storm Wolf of Jachin Due" said Murrue.

"The same" Sebastian replied.

"What is going on here?" said Kuzzey, "What do you mean, 'Storm Wolf of Jachin Due'?"

"Just what it means." Ryu said, stepping forward. "Sebastian Connor is in fact, the infamous Storm Wolf of Jachin Due, thought dead for almost a year now."

There was a small moment of silence.

Then Jordan whistled. "See what I mean?" he said. "at this point, _nothing _could truly surprise me."

"Jordan, would you mind telling us who your 'friend' there is?" Sebastian said, stairing at the zaft with a green suit.

Jordan smiled. "Ladies and Gentalmen," he said, putting his hand on the Zaft red's shoulder. "Please say hello to my Big Brother thought dead, Matthew Takeo."

"Your…Brother?" Sarah asked, amazed.

"But, didn't you tell us he died at the bloody Valentine?" Ryu asked, just as amazed as the others.

"I did." Jordan said.

"Reports of my death were greatly exaggerated." Matthew finished, removing his helmet. Everyone who was Jordan's friend gasped at how similer they looked. It was almost identical, only that Matthew had slightly longer, shaggier hair, and a scar just below his Jaw.

Then Ryu stepped in. "As much as I really am enjoying this little Family Reunion," He said. "I don't think this is over yet and I want to make sure that our suits are properly prepared. Kira, you take a look at the OS for the Dragon. Chris take a look at the Raven and finish tweaking if it needs it." Turning to Liz he raised an eyebrow "Are you going to pilot the Zephyr for now?" Ryu asked her as the other two did as asked.

Liz bit her lip in thought before nodding in affirmation "You guys will need the help right?" she asked rhetorically "You want me to make sure the Zephyr is up to snuff right?"

Ryu nodded before turning to Johanna "Where are the Strike's weapons?" He asked in confusion.

Johanna sighed rubbing her head "They are normally stored in a warehouse near the factory," she answered "but we transferred them to the prototype carrier we were building alongside the G-weapons, the _Archangel. _But with this attack I believe they probably targeted it with the initial explosion."

"Take Sai and see if there are any of the weapon packs left," he ordered pointing to Sai "Mir, Tolle can you please see if there is any food and water nearby please, mobile suit piloting can be very draining."

The four nodded and went off to do as requested with Sai and Johanna hotwiring a nearby car. Ryu then faced Jordan and Matthew. "I think its obvious you'll be piloting your machines." He said.

The brothers glanced at eachother, and simutaniously they said: "Do ya think?"

Ryu Chuckled. "There is no doupt now, in my mind that you are brothers." He said.

The two smiled, and they headed towards their machines.

Ryu then sighed. "I never wanted this to happen." He muttered.

"Well, theirs nothing you can do now, eh Dragon?" Sebastian said as he walked up next to Ryu.

Ryu flinched when Sebastian used his infamous nick-name. "How did you-"

"Know?" Sebastian finished. "Oh, come on. Everything was pointing to it. That suit your piloting is called the Dragon, your first name means 'Dragon' in English, and of course, I've read the Zaft intelligence files. I knew who you were the moment I met you. And I'm pretty sure you knew who I was when we met."

Ryu nodded. "And before you ask, no I wont tell your friends." Sebastian said. "I'll leave that to you."

"Thanks, Seb." Ryu said.

Just then, Johanna and Sai returned in a transport with a crate and parked behind the kneeling Strike. "Thankfully there was one left." Johanna explained as the crate opened up "So we should be able to boost our radio range with it."

Ryu nodded and signaled Kira to get the Pack mounted on the Strike and frowned as he felt a tingle in the back of his head "Guys mount up!" he ordered as he made his way to the Dragon leaving a confused Johanna and Ramius behind, though Sebastian got the same sensation Ryu reseved, and was already sprinting towards the Predator. "I have a feeling that ZAFT is on their way!"

"Ryu!" Kira shouted from the now armed Strike "Communications just cut out!"

Ryu swore violently "Mount up NOW." He literally _roared_ the order as the trio got in their mobile suits '_Power is halfway, I cannot prolong the battle._'

Suddenly, an explosion overhead as a white ZGMF-515 CGUE and a Moebius Zero flew into the colony. Sebastian immediately growled.

"So, it was the Le Creuset team that attacked! I'll take care of him." He ran back to the Predator and shot up into the air, hurtling right toward the vicious battle.

_Mu_

Mu La Flaga, inwardly cursed as he lost the last of his wired gun barrels.

_So this is the end_, he thought, _I'd have liked to have gone up against Connor again at least once_. _He gave a great fight, even better than Le Creuset_. _And I still don't know what happened to Ryu…_

"Mu, I'd actually be pleased if you vanished right about…now!" Le Creuset said, when an eerie howl came over the speakers,

Mu's eyes widened, _He's here? That can't be!_ A quick look at his monitors told him otherwise, _the remaining prototypes, The Storm Wolf of Jachin Due has it. That's it, I'm dead. _Needless to say, he was quite surprised when instead of having his Zero sliced to pieces the Predator, and the Dragon went straight for the CGUE.

"Hello boys! I'm ba-ack!" Sebastian yelled, as he joined the fray, "Well, we meet again, Mu La Flaga, it's been too long."

"So it is you, Sebastian Connor? I'm surprised, you could have killed me. Why didn't you?"

"It would take too long to explain, but you're not the one I'm here for. Hello _Commander_" Sebastian said, making the last word sound like an insult, "You're the last person I wanted to see, you cockbiting fucktard!"

"My my, such dirty language!" Le Creuset said in a chiding tone "Is that any way to speak to your former commanding officer? After all we've been through together?"

"You may have been my CO, but that never meant I liked you! Especially after ENDYMION! Lieutenant, would you care for some assistance in sending this assclown to hell?"

"Well, if it's not too much trouble for you" said Mu.

"My schedule's open!" and the three attacked. The Storm Wolf of Jachin Due, the Dragon of Endymion and the Hawk of Endymion proved to be a potent combination, as the Zero provided long range support with its linear gun, the Predator moved in for close quarters combat with Le Creuset's CGUE.

Boosting forward he collided swords with the Green-Black mobile suit as the others tried to flank him from both sides, chuckling he tried to drag the Green-Black mobile suit into the line of fire only for the suit to ram the broad side of the shield into Rau's CGUE surprising him. However his reactions were quick enough to dodge the shots that the others took at him. As he continued to trade blows with the Green-Black mobile suit he couldn't help but feel he had fought a person who piloted like the one in front of him now, it suddenly clicked into place and Rau's eyes widened from behind the mask. '_I have to confirm this._' He thought to himself as he opened and area-wide radio-link.

"Well, isn't today a day for reunions." Rau said. "I don't know why your here piloting an _EA_ machine, but it certainly has been a while, hasn't it, Dragon of Endymion _Ryu Hisanaga!_" Rau shouted over the link causing all movement to freeze on the battlefield.

Suddenly a chuckling broke out over the link "_I haven't heard than name for almost three years,_" Ryu said over the channel in a reminiscent voice before turning to ice "_I hope you're ready Rau le Crueset the White Duelist, because you have dragged me out of retirement by threatening my home and friends, and I will not stand for it!"_

Rau grinned as he blocked another strike from Ryu's blade and quickly lost it when the blade continued to cut through Rau's sword boosting backward Rau managed to avoid the glowing edge of the blade "_Like it?_" Ryu's mocking voice came through the radio "_This blade doesn't just cut, it melts._"

Rau's only response was to take out his gun and start shooting.

"So, it's come to this hasn't it?" said Le Creuset, "I suppose I shouldn't be complaining. I've been given an opportunity to kill my three greatest rivals at the exact same time!"

"Don't think we're going down that easy!" Mu retorted.

"Yeah, if you want to kill us that bad, then you'll have to work for it!" Sebastian added.

"Then I'll do my best not to disappoint!" Le Creuset began laughing as he sliced the Zero's linear cannon off.

The Zero, CGUE, Dragon, and Predator continued their deadly dance through the colony interior, careful to avoid hitting the shaft which could shatter the entire satellite.

_With Kira_

Kira was in shock at the revelation of who Ryu was, she had guessed that he was a soldier, ZAFT due to the fact he was a coordinator, but the legendary coordinator ace of the EA, the _only_ coordinator pilot of the EA who went missing after Junius Seven. _That_ was defiantly shocking news to all of them. _'It still doesn't change anything Ryu never hid anything from us,_' she thought to herself as she continued to watch the ongoing battle between the three aces '_It is understandable that he would hide this from us because he would want to fade into atomicity._' A sudden beeping caught her attention and saw a text message from Ryu telling her to get ready for an opening and for the others to get ready to prevent Rau's escape.

_With Ryu_

Ryu was breathing heavily as the adrenaline coursed through his system dodging Rau's shots and returning his own as the deadly dance continued '_Defiantly out of shape,_' he thought to himself in frustration '_I should have done more than basic workouts._'

_Sebastian_

Predator's beam saber collided with the CGUE's shield. Le Creuset then fired his machine gun, point blank range, the bullets merely bouncing off the Phase Shift. Although to Sebastian it was still the most unpleasant experience of his life.

"Damn! Sounds like a bunch of woodpeckers going at it all at once!" Sebastian said, wishing he could clap his hands on his ears, if it wasn't for his helmet.

"_Well, would you Rather be dead?_" Ryu asked as he swang his Heat Blade against the CGUE, only for the Mobile suit to back away quickly.

"Just stating a fact!" Sebastian said.

_Ryu_

Gritting his teeth he fought off the effects of a high G-force turn to dodge another shot from Rau '_10% power left, I hope they are ready._' Narrowing his eyes Ryu took the risk and launched off a volley of missile from his shield along with a salvo of shots from his beam rifle draining the last of his energy he made sure he touched down safely hoping his plan worked.

_With Chris_

Seeing the missile volley Chris launched the Raven into action pushing the suit to the maximum thrust he started shooting at Rau with Liz and Sarah keeping him on the defensive and hopefully clearing a shot for Kira as the two of them ganged up on Rau they could clearly see why Ryu had trouble with this guy '_Does this guy have eyes on the back of his fucking head!_' Chris thought in wonder as he fired off a shot from his rail cannons from behind that Rau dodged "Liz! Come from below!" Chris shouted over the radio as he charged in firing his railguns and drew his beam saber only for Rau to introduce the Raven's head with the Cgue's foot.

Watching Chris saw Liz fly in desperately firing hoping to hit their elusive foe on to be disappointed as he weaved through the shots like a dancer and responded by grabbing the Zephyr and throwing it into the Raven causing the pair to crash into the ground.

"_Yo! Jackass!_" The Radio activated. Rau, Sebastian, and the others all turned to see Jordan in the Katana, carrying a massive duel-Gataling cannon. "SAY 'ELLO TO MA LITTLE FRIEND!"

Jordan then opened fire with the 90mm Beam gataling cannons. A rapid stream of green beams blasted out of the revolving barrels of the weapons, streaming towards the CGUE.

Rau swore seeing the Katana got itself a new toy, he punched his suit backwards, and sped away, narrowly evading the Katana's barrage of beam fire.

"Jordan, where did you get that?" Sebastian asked, smiling seeing Rau run for his life.

"_It was inside Morgenroete._" Jordan replied. "_There were a bunch of weapons lying around, so I picked one up, and started using it._"

"_You know, you shouldn't keep firing like a maniac like that._" Ryu said. "_It'll drain your power._"

"_Uh…no its not._" Jordan replied.

There was a moment of silence on the Comm's. "What?" Sebastian said, amazed.

"_Its still holding at 100% power._" Jordan confirmed. "_Matt's the same way._"

"Hey, where is your Brother?" Sarah asked.

"_Wait for it…wait for it….NOW!_"

Suddenly, the Shadow Scythe appeared in front of the CGUE from seemingly thin air, Beam Scythe Raised.

The CGUE was forced to stop, and punched it upwards,but not before the Shadow Scythe's weapon cleaved its right arm clean off.

"_Fuck! I missed that bastard!_" Matthew complained.

"_Isnt he or was your superior?_" Jordan asked.

"_Rau? Fuck that guy! He's a snake!_"

Sebastian smiled widely, and laughed. "Jordan, I'm starting to like your Brother." He said.

Unfortunately for Rau, his sudden attempt to evade Matthew's attack gave Kira a clear shot at him that she took firing her Hyper-Impulse Cannon. She barely missed the main body but took the arm and gun out, along with creating a hole in the colony wall "OH FUCK!" Kira swore violently as everyone else stared in awe at the power of the cannon.

"Smooth move kid" Sebastian muttered quietly, "REAL smooth move."

Le Creuset was in shock.

"How could a single mobile suit have so much power?" Le Creuset said.

A second explosion tore through the ground two miles from the combatants and out of the debris rising like its namesake was the Archangel.

"Wow," was all the Storm Wolf had to say, he was genuinely impressed with the powerful new ship, "Makes sense that the prototypes would have a ship built specifically for them, but I would have never expected something like this."

"Well, _that_ changes things." Rau muttered as he saw the Archangel's guns turn in his direction "You win this round Dragon, and Sebastian, but our little war has just begun." He called out as he maxed out his engines heading for the newly created exit.

Ryu snorted "Perhaps duelist," he muttered quietly "But the next time I will be ready and waiting." Turning his mobile suit he opened a video link with Kira and smiled sheepishly "Sorry to be a bother but could you help me get the Dragon on to the Archangel?" he asked as Kira giggled and moved the Strike to grip the armpits of the Dragon and boosted the both of them up to the landing platform of the ship as Chris, Sarah, Matthew Jordan, Sebastian and Liz gathered the others up and brought them up and set them down gently.

Groaning Ryu stretched his back as he stepped out of the cockpit of the Dragon and sighed as he heard his back crack loosening it before activating the decent line and descended to the deck every inch of him looking like a veteran fighter. He was soon joined by the others and quietly eyed the group that came out to meet them, he quickly recognized three of them from the transport terminal and smiled at the sight of a stocky black haired mechanic who was with them.

Natarle and several of the crew members ran toward her.

"Lieutenant Ramius, I'm glad to see that you survived Ma'am. We were worried when Morgenroete went up."

"Likewise Ensign. Thank you for protecting the _Archangel_. These students gave me so help. These G-weapons are quite impressive" said Murrue.

The Moebius Zero from earlier landed near the G-weapons and out from the cockpit came Mu la Flagga who looked around intently before locking eyes with Ryu and grinned but first approached the bridge crew.

"Well, this is a surprise," Mu broke in. "I'm Lieutenant Mu La Flaga, Seventh Orbital Fleet. My previous ship was destroyed, so I'd like permission to come aboard. Who's in charge here?'

"The senior officers are dead," said Natarle quietly, "I believe that Lieutenant Ramius is in command now."

"The Captain's…oh, this cannot be happening," said Murrue.

"What a disaster. In that case, please let me come aboard Lieutenant. I've got no where else to go," said Mu.

"Of course, permission granted Lieutenant La Flaga" said Murrue, quickly recovering with a salute, "Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, Sector 2, Fifth Special Division, assigned to the _Archangel_."

Natarle was steps behind her as she saluted, "Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, same assignment. Just curious, but who's flying the Predator?"

"That would be me Ensign," a rich, baritone voice answered, as a figure in a green flight suit with a white helmet approached.

"And you are?" said Natarle inquisitively. Sebastian pulled his helmet off and locked his eyes with hers. And then threw off a perfect salute.

"Connor, Commander Sebastian, ID#077415, last posting, Connor Team" said Sebastian, "You might know me better as the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due, and my team as the Storm Wolves".

"The Storm Wolf of Jachin Due?" said Natarle in disbelief.

"The one and only" Sebastian said with a wide grin.

"The youngest recipient of the Order of the Nebula" said Natarle. Sebastian then drew the medal out of his flight suit and held it up for all to see.

"So I finally get to meet you face to face," said Mu.

"The same here, Lieutenant La Flaga…I expected you to be taller" said Sebastian.

Mu gave a loud, hearty laugh, "And I was expecting some kind of snarling, 8 foot, wolf creature, and you're not even 6 feet tall."

"Shortness runs in my family" Sebastian said simply, "My grandpa was only 5'7", and my mom was 5 feet even. It's something I've grown to accept."

"Even still, it's an honor to meet you Commander" said Mu, saluting him.

"Yeah, although that title really doesn't mean much these days," Sebastian said slowly, "you can't be much of a commander without people to command, just call me Sebastian for the time being."

"That's something we have in common." Ryu said stepping up towards the two.

Mu gave Ryu a broad grin that Ryu returned as they clasped hands "It's good to see you alive and well Hawk." Ryu said jovially as Mu laughed.

"Same to you Dragon." He retorted.

Kira and the others chose this moment to emerge from their cockpit. Everyone goggled at the fact that teenagers and civilians at that had been piloting the massive war machine.

"Would somebody explain this? Their just kids. Just learned to shave and their the one piloting it?" Petty Officer 1st Class Kojiro Murdoch said to no one in particular.

"These kids are Kira Yamato, Sarah Lenix, Chris Dante, Liz Dante, Jordan Takeo, and Matthew Takeo. Yes they were the one piloting the G-Weapons" said Murrue, "For some reason they were in the factory district during the attack; I brought him aboard the G-weapon, and we were fighting off ZAFT GINNs, and actually doing a fair job of it until…"

"Until I showed up and destroyed it," said Sebastian.

"Who was it?" said Mu.

"Miguel Aiman" said Sebastian, "I was a bit surprised that he had joined Le Creuset's team."

"The Magic Bullet of Dusk, eh? Not bad." Mu then walked over to the kids and closely scrutinized them.

"Is something wrong" Kira said sharply.

"So, you're Coordinators like Ryu, aren't you?" said Mu.

Only the Pilots, Tolle, Sebastian, and Ryu were unfazed, everyone else was dumbstruck.

"Yes" was all that Kira said. This prompted guards to instinctively pull their rifles up. Tolle and Jordan stepped between them.

"I suggest that you redirect those rifles to me" Sebastian said with ice in his voice, "I'm ZAFT's top pilot, he's merely a civilian" Thankfully, Murrue defused the situation before it got worse, "Lower your weapons men."

"Lieutenant, what's going on?" Natarle said, truly confused.

"It makes sense, when you think about it. Heliopolis is neutral, so it stands to reason some Coordinators would take refuge here to stay out of the war" Murrue looked at Kira, "Am I wrong?"

"No, you're right. Especially since I'm a first-generation Coordinator", said Kira.

"Which means, of course, that your parents are Naturals." Mu said. "What about your friends?"

"Me and my sister are Second generation." Chris said. "But our Parents made us move to Orb fearing war was gonna break out."

"I'm also First generation." Sarah said. "My older sister is Second, but she lives in Orb now."

"Me and my little brother are first gen as well." Matthew said. "Jordan stayed at Orb, but I had to move to the Plants with some friends."

"If you live in the Plants, why are you helping us?" Natarle asked, eyeing his red pilot suit.

"Lets just say that…Certain circumstances forced me to start protecting my brother and his friends." Matthew said.

"Sorry about that, didn't mean to cause a fuss. I was just curious, especially in light of who was flying Predator _and _the Dragon." said Mu.

"So what do we do now?" Natarle asked.

"First off, I have to know something," said Murrue, facing Sebastian, "How far are you willing to go when it comes to fighting your friends in ZAFT?"

"Lieutenant, let me put it to you this way. I know there are many good people in ZAFT, but the people in charge don't feel that way. As long as those people remaining charge, I will not go back. Besides, by killing Miguel, In ZAFT's eyes, I'm a traitor. So I really haven't got much of a choice."

"Now I want to know something," said Natarle, "You were declared MIA three months after Endymion. You've been here this entire time? Why?"

"It's a long story Ensign, and I'll be glad to tell it to everyone, but now's not the best time. Le Creuset is still out there, and he will not rest until this ship is destroyed. So we need to get out of here!", said Sebastian, "Lieutenant, if you won't be needing me, I'd like to get some rest."

Murrue blinked then looked closer at the pilots, Kira was swaying slightly, Chris was yawning as Liz was drooping her eyes and leaning against her brother for support as they all tried to stay awake. Sarah's were shutting and closing, and she was just barley struggling to stay awake. "Oh, right, Neumann, them to one of the spare dorms for now." She said pointing to the taller of the two males that the group had met earlier.

Once they had settled in Ryu sat down on the edge of Kira's bunk as he looked around at everyone "As you heard, both from Hawk, Wolf, and Rau le Crueset, I am the Dragon of Endymion, the former EA ace pilot that vanished after Junius Seven." Ryu explained heavily sighing "They never told me about their plan to nuke the colonies and during the attack when I saw the Peacemaker forces I snapped and started massacring them, the one time that myself, Rau le Crueset, and Andrew Waltfield, the desert tiger teamed up, I was told it was quite the sight. Unfortunately however we couldn't stop them all." He glanced at Chris and Liz, they had lost their parents and all of their friends at Junius Seven "Still haunts me to this day, I wasn't fast enough, strong enough, I wasn't aware enough. Still wake up screaming sometimes..." he trailed off with a vacant look full of regret and sadness.

"We don't blame you Ryu," Liz said reassuringly and Chris nodded in agreement "Knowing that you tried is enough."

"Their right." Matthew said. "I was there and I saw you fight. You did your best to save them, and that's all we ever could have asked for."

"So Your Jordan's Brother, eh?" Chris said, eyeing the former Zaft pilot."I swear you look just like him."

Jordan and Matthew just shrugged. "Its it the family." They said at the same time.

"You said you were at Junius 7, right?" Liz asked, interested.

Matthew's head went downcast. "Yes." He said. "I was piloting a GINN under the command of Rau Le Cruset. During the battle, I managed to stop two of the nukes…but not all of them."

"You said it yourself Brother." Jordan said. "You, Ryu, and every other zaft pilot tried their best to save Junius seven. No one could have asked for more."

Matthew smiled and nodded. "Boy, your Parents are gonna freak when they see your brother's alive!" Chris said.

Matthew stiffened, and Jordan's eyes became downcast. "Whats wrong?" Sarah asked.

"…Their dead." Jordan answered. Shocking everyone. "The pilot of the GAT-X902 Akuma killed them." Matthew continued. "His name was Kane Hellfury."

"Hellfury as in _Zar _Hellfury?" Ryu asked amazed. Matthew nodded. "The Son of the Devil of Endymion, though they are nothing alike in almost every way. Kane hates Naturals, and has no problem killing civilians if their in his way. While Zar would never stoop to that level."

Matthew then sighed. "That Bastard." He said. "he didn't even hesitate to kill them…and he almost killed Jordan if I didn't stop him."

"You always did save my ass back home." Jordan said, forcing a smile.

"Why did you join the EA in the first place." Kira asked curiously trying to change the subject, tilting her head to the left as she looked at him.

"I wanted to change people's perceptions on coordinators by showing them that we are not all the same," he explained "I wanted to deconstruct the illusions that the EA had built up on coordinators, as you can see I wasn't as successful as I wished to be." Shaking his head "Enough of that for now though, we need to get some sleep." Standing up he was about to climb up on the bunk above Kira's when her hand caught his.

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute first?" she asked plaintively her eyes anxious. Blinking Ryu nodded as Kira led him out of the dorm and into an unused room and shut the door, turning to Ryu she chewed her lower lip with a light blush on her face "There was something I've always have wanted to tell you," she admitted as Ryu waited patiently with a look of concern and curiosity "and well with everything going on I didn't want to leave behind many regrets in case something happened," she wrung her hands and looked directly at Ryu "I admire you, more than admire really, I, I think I've fallen in love with you."

Ryu inhaled sharply at her admission as Kira ducked her head finding her shoes extremely interesting at the time. Because she was looking at the ground she didn't see Ryu move towards her and she gave a small start when she felt his arms wrap around her. "You want to know something?" he asked quietly whispering into her ear "I've fallen for you as well, Kira."

Her amethyst eyes wide she looked into Ryu's sincere green one in shock as he begun to lower his head, closing her eyes she felt his lips brush against hers in a light kiss and shivered in delight as she felt electricity run down her spine. Opening her eyes she looked at Ryu and smiled at him before she stood on her toes and pressed her lips against his again moaning softly as his calloused but gentle hands ran through her hair. She felt his tongue brush against her lips and opened her mouth and moaned deeper as Ryu's tongue began to massage hers while exploring her mouth.

When they finally broke for air they were both heavily flushed and were smiling broadly at each other "That was..." Kira trailed off trying to find an answer

"Amazing? Breathtaking? Utterly enjoyable?" Ryu supplied his eyes twinkling as he held Kira.

"All of the above." She answered resting her head against his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat before yawning.

Chuckling he nuzzled her hair and inhaled her sent of lavender and lilacs "Shall we return to our room and let the others know?" he asked lightly.

Kira nodded for a remained still for a minute before breaking away, they returned to the dorm and saw everyone still awake, they all turned as the pair entered the rooms and their jaws dropped at the sight of Ryu and Kira holding hands. A sudden squeal of excitement from Liz and Sarah broke the revere that the group was in as the two suddenly darted forward and glomped Kira "You finally told him!" Liz shouting in glee as she and Sarah hugged Kira tightly causing her to turn blue and Ryu looked on in concern.

"She is starting to turn blue Liz, Sarah." He said trying to pry her off of Kira who had turned purple "Correction: she has turned purple now."

Breaking away Liz and Sarah blushed in embarrassment and muttered an apology as she sat back down beside Chris and Ryu and Kira sat down across from them as everyone offered their congratulations causing Kira to blush as she rested her head on Ryu's shoulder their hands entwined on her lap. A sudden yawn from her caused Ryu to chuckle "I think we need to get some rest," he said gently as he lay Kira on her bed "We are all tired and have had a long day."

Everyone nodded and went to their beds and Ryu kissed Kira he was about to pull away when Kira grabbed his arm "Can you sleep with ne tonight?" she asked "I need the comfort."

Ryu smile gently and kissed her again before lying next to her facing her while drawing her close "Of course Kira." He whispered gently as she wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled his chest smiling as she drifted off to sleep. Kissing the top of her head he drew the blankets over them before falling asleep himself.


	5. Phase 3: Falling land

ZAFT_ Laurasia_-class escort carrier _Gamow_.

The remaining GINNs were being loaded with D-Type equipment as the seven top ace pilots looked on.

"D-equipment, I hear," Yzak Joule said, "I gather Commander Le Creuset is planning to storm a fortress or something."

"But what will happen to Heliopolis? I mean, with weapons that powerful…" Nicol Amalfi said,

"Can't be helped, can it?" said Dearka Elsman.

"Serves them right" said Yzak with a snide tone, "How can they call themselves neutral when they've caught in the act of building new weapons for the Earth Forces?"

"That was Morgenroette." Lev stated. "Not Orb. Morgenroette is a company from Orb, but they do not respond to the Orb Government."

"And if the Commander uses D-Equipment…" Yuuka said. "There 's more than a good chance civilians are gonna get caught in the crossfire."

Yzak bit his lip. "Maybe…" he said. "But that cant be helped now."

"Even still," Nicol whispered. He was still in shock when his commander had returned to the ship and told him and his fellow the horrifying truth.

_"I'm afraid I have bad news," said Le Creuset, "One of the new machines, the Predator, was being piloting by one of our own."_

_"The machine that killed Miguel?" said Athrun Zala, "Who was it?"_

_"Sebastian Connor" said Le Creuset, staring straight at Nicol. _

_"The Storm Wolf of Jachin Due?" said Athrun Zala, "_HE_ did this? Isn't he supposed to be dead?"_

_"So most of us were led to believe," Le Creuset said, "Although a body was never found, he must have faked his own death to join the Earth Forces.". _

_"That can't be possible!" shouted Nicol, "Even if he's alive, I know Sebastian too well! He's for the PLANTs through and through! He was at Jachin and Grimaldi. He'd never do something like this!"_

_"I know of your past with him Nicol, but I heard his trademark howl, and no Earth Forces pilot could hope to duplicate it" said Le Creuset, "and furthermore, he called me a 'cockbiting fucktard.' An insult that only he is known to use." _

_"If he said that, then yeah, that's him," said Nicol, "he only uses that on people he _really_ doesn't like."_

_"Did something happen between the two of you, Commander?" said Yzak, a small grin on his face. _

_"Nothing that should concern you, Pilot Joule," Le Creuset snapped. "Furthermore, it seems Ryu Hisanaga is piloting one of the other machines. __However it seems that it was not originally his plan to, he was protecting his home."_

_"How do you know that sir?" Yuuka asked in confusion "I mean it is true that he vanished after Junius Seven, but he could have been overseeing this project."_

_"Because I heard it straight from the Dragon's mouth, so to speak." Rau explained_

_"WHAT!" Yzak exploded "You would believe something that, __traitor__ said!"_

_"The Dragon is very well known for his honesty," Jacques said quietly "If he tells you something, it is what he knows to be the truth."_

_"Which is exactly why he attacked the peacekeeper force at Junius Seven," Naleen explained brushing a stay stand of hair behind her ear "He didn't know or he would have warned us about it, he is no traitor, if anything he might have done the most for coordinators."_

_"How?" Yuuka asked in confusion "He joined the EA right, so, how does that help the coordinators?"_

_"He was trying to change the soldiers perceptions on coordinators by showing them we are not all the same," Lev said suddenly surprising the other red coats "Showing them that we all do not wish for war."_

"_There is one more thing." Rau said as Kane Hellfury entered the bridge. "Matthew has betrayed us."_

_There was a whole minute of silence. "Matthew what?" Athrun asked in disbelief. _

"_Its true." Kane sneered. "He shot at me to protect a Morgenrotte employee. He was assisting an enemy, as such he is now a Traitor to Zaft."_

"_But…he wouldn't do that unless he had a reason!" Nicole said._

_"The fact remains that we need to beat them and destroy this new battle ship that the EA has created." Rau commented "Have our remaining GINN's load up with D-class equipment."_

_Everyone inhaled sharply "D-class, sir?" Yuuka asked nervously "But isn't that meant for storming fortresses? Couldn't that destroy the colony?"_

_"Enough," Rau commanded "I don't like this any more than you do, but that ship must be destroyed. Naleen, Jacques, the two of you are in command of the mobile suits, go in with your regular equipment, the two of you will have to deal with the Dragon and Storm Wolf as my Cgue is damaged."_

_Nodding the two GINN pilots left the room "Sir," Athrun said calling Rau's attention "May I sortie in the Aegis as well? There is something I need to confirm about the pilot of the Strike."_

_Rau frowned as he looked at Athrun hi mask hiding the curious look in his eyes "Very well," Rau relented "Kane will also be joining us. Just remember to follow orders, understood?"_

_"Yes sir." Athrun confirmed saluting before taking off to the hanger with a determined look on his face._

"Why Sebastian, Matthew?" Nicol muttered, "Why would you do such a thing?"

"You alright?" said Dearka.

"I just can't accept it," said Nicol, "Sebastian was like an older brother to me. I just couldn't accept the fact that he had died, and now I just can't accept the fact that he faked it all to join the Earth Forces. And Matthew was an Honest guy, he wouldn't attack a superior unless it was important."

"He was always known for being rather unconventional. This could be some kind of special black ops mission he took on his own initiative". Dearka said.

"I hope you're right." Nicol said.

"As For Matthew, reguardless to his reasons, we have to take him down now." Lev said.

"We'll find out soon enough" Yzak threw in, "When we attack next, he'll be waiting for us. The Storm Wolf of Jachin Due was never one to be complacent."

_Archangel_, Officer Quarters

Sebastian stepped into the single and reflected dryly, "Steel walls, steel floor, cold, impersonal, I love military décor. Guess this is 'home' for me now."

In the past few months, several places had been "home" for the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due, but the last place he really called home, the last place he had truly felt comfortable, was the Storm Wolves base on the Grimaldi Front, which as a big surprise was known as, the Wolf's Den. Situated right on the edge of the Grimaldi Front itself, and crewed solely by the fourteen members of the team, and their support crew, before it was destroyed in an Alliance attack just before Endymion.

Sebastian proceeded to remove his green flight suit and with much reluctance, replaced it with a blue Earth Forces volunteer uniform.

"Never thought I'd find myself wearing _this_," Sebastian said, and he continued to unpack. From his backpack he pulled the three silver picture frames, and a small black notebook held shut by a strip of black elastic. He placed the three frames and book on the nightstand. His sword and other things of value were in his duffle bag, still with Flay Allster in one of the shelters, but that was the last thing on his mind.

He picked up the frame containing a picture of 16 people. 14 of them were wearing pale white-gray ZAFT uniforms, the brown-haired, blue-eyed man in the center had the Order of the Nebula around his neck. He had his left arm around the shoulder of a young man in top gun red, with green hair, and his right arm around the waist of a pink haired girl in a puffy dress. Sebastian blinked back a single tear, and gently put his hand on the picture of the girl.

"My angel, I hope you're safe. I hope one day to return to your arms, but until then, I must fight, for everyone's sake. Nicol…Nicol I hope that wherever your duties have taken you, that you're alive and well, old friend. Shawn, I try to keep the memory of you and everyone alive everyday. It wasn't easy at first, but now, I have the power to do something about it. GENESIS _**WILL NOT**_ become a reality!" Sebastian said, "I swear that unto my last dying breath!"

Sebastian silently cried for a second before composing himself and heading for the _Archangel'_s bridge. Knowing and fully expecting Le Creuset to make a new assault. Upon his arrival he found Murrue, Mu and Natarle conversing, planning their next move.

"Heard anything from our favorite masked nutjob?" said Sebastian.

"Not yet, they're biding their time for now" said Murrue.

"It won't last," said Mu.

"You can count on that" said Sebastian, "His main purpose here was to capture the G-weapons. He has Seven of them, but with Strike, Predator, Zephyr, Raven, Dragon, Slash, Shadow Scythe, Katana, Dragon, and the _Archangel_ still active, he won't stop, especially now that I willingly killed Miguel, and Matthew saved his Brother from Kane. That makes both of us traitors."

"Do you know what tactics he'll use?" Natarle inquired.

"Oh yeah, if he uses GINNs, then it will be a certain bet they'll be as heavily armed as possible, D-package equipment I believe. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he simply destroys the entire colony. Just to wipe us out."

Natarle and Murrue sat in dumbfounded silence,

"D-type weaponry? They use that stuff on hardened fortresses, not ships in neutral colonies!" said Mu.

"Certainly you must be joking!" said Natarle, "Destroying the entire colony just to get us!"

"Ensign, You don't know Rau Le Creuset like I do, if he perceives something to be a threat. He'll go to any lengths to destroy it, and it won't matter to him at all how many people are sacrificed, I found that out at Endymion. As long as they stick with GINNs, then me and the others should be able to handle it."

"You said if he uses only GINNs, what else would he have?" said Murrue.

"Lieutenant, are you that naïve? Now that they have seven G-weapons, do you really think that Le Creuset's going to just let them sit in the hanger and collect dust?" Sebastian said incredulously.

"I guess not," said Murrue, "So what do we do?"

"That answer should be simple, we haul ass out of here as fast as we can. We're sitting ducks if stay here" said Sebastian.

"What are your chances if the other G-weapons _are_ deployed?" asked Natarle.

"Hard to say, One of them, maybe, two…if I had the other's help, then we could probably fend them off long enough for the _Archangel_ to escape. If all seven, pluse GINN's are deployed, not even I'm a miracle worker. Part of it may depend on the skill of the pilot, and knowing Rau the way I do, he would give those machines to his top pilots, and there would be no telling how good they would be" said Sebastian grimly, "and now that I mention him, will Kira and the others be willing to pilot the G-Weapons to help us get out of here?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea. They are all civilians, Coordinators, and kids. It would be a huge security risk to put them in charge of such sensitive military hardware", Natarle cut in.

"Well Ensign, what do propose we do? Take those kids and pop them into a shelter? After what they've already seen here?"

"Point well taken," said Natarle.

"Besides, even if we tried to get those kids into shelters, it wouldn't matter because they're all locked down" said Murrue, "So the only way out is this ship."

"One last alternative, is there anyone else aboard this ship that could _possibly_ fly a G-weapon?" asked Sebastian.

"The only other ones aboard with piloting experience are Lieutenant La Flaga, and Chief Petty Officer Neumann, but neither of them have any experience with mobile suits," Murrue looked at Mu, "At least, I assume you don't."

"Sorry, not even in the simulators," he shook his head.

"Look, if it's just me out there, then I can't guarantee the safety of this ship. It will take all of the G-Weapons if we are even going to survive" said Sebastian. "I know for a fact that Ryu will fight to save his home, and friends. But he's gonna let the others choose for themselves."

"I'll go talk to them, mind helping me Commander?" Murrue asked standing up "Ryu would probably respond better to you than me."

Mu chuckled as he stood up "Might be a good idea." He agreed good naturally.

OoOoOo

_Archangel, Dormitories._

As Kira slowly woke up she realized two things, first Ryu was no longer in the bed next to her and second there were voices coming from the hallway. Sitting up she rubbed her eyes and looked over at the open doorway and heard Ryu's voice come through "Yes I do understand the situation Captain, and yes I will pilot the Dragon to defend _Heliopolis_ not this ship," he stated sounding agitated "However I _will not_ force the others to pilot the remaining G-weapons, that is their choice alone, if anything I would prefer that they didn't even have to get in the mobile suits in the _first place._"

Getting up she walked over to the door and peered outside to see Ryu leaning up against the wall his arms folded and glaring at Murrue and Mu who were standing across from him "I had hoped that this would never had happened, if I did know than I would have gotten them out of here before ZAFT struck," Ryu admitted sighing deeply "I'll talk to the others, but I will _not_ push them in any direction, and if they chose not to pilot a G-weapon you better leave it at that."

"We will Ryu, don't worry." Mu reassured waving his hands in a placating manner.

"It's not you I'm worried about Mu." Ryu said sadly and he got up and walked back to the dorm room, backing up Kira let him entered and faced him with a determined face.

"I'm not letting you fight alone." She stated resolutely.

Ryu smiled sadly and pulled Kira close to him resting his forehead against hers "Thank you Kira," he whispered gratefully "But are you sure that this is what you want?"

"Yeah," she confirmed in a whisper "If we don't than who will?"

Ryu chuckled as he kissed her lightly "Good point, lets wake the others and talk to them." He said drawing away reluctantly and turned to the other who were still sleeping. An evil grin suddenly spread across his face as his eyes twinkled in mischief "I think I know how to wake them up." He stated as he suddenly stood ramrod straight "UP AND AT'EM," he shouted in a drill sergeant-like voice causing the teens to start scrambling and fall out of their bunks in surprise and panic.

When they finally came to their senses Ryu was holding his sides in laughter as Kira was trying but failing at holding in the giggles "Not funny Ryu." Chris growled glaring at Ryu as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"For me it is." Ryu admitted as he calmed down. He then noticed that though Jordan had crashed to the ground, Matthew however stood instantly at attention in a military fastion.

"…Show-off." Jordan Muttered as he got to his feet. Matthew smiled. "Its what I do." He said.

Ryu then settled into a more serious demeanor that caused everyone to unconsciously stiffen "The Captain has brought to my attention that the original pilots for the G-weapons were killed in the initial attack on Heliopolis." He stated "She has requested that Kira, myself, Liz, Chris, Sebastian, Sarah, Jordan, and Matthew to remain as the pilots of the G-weapons that we piloted initially, Kira, Sebastian and myself have already accepted, Sarah, Chris, Liz, Matthew, Jordan it is completely up to you if you wish to continue piloting the Raven, Shadow Scythe, Katana, Slash and Zephyr, we will not think less of you if you chose to sit out."

"No need to worry, I'll keep fighting, our home needs to be defended, right?" Chris said with a grin.

"I'm fighting too." Liz stated as she stepped forward.

"No you are not." Chris said suddenly turning to his sister "I do not want you fighting, it's too dangerous."

"So you don't think that I can handle it?" Liz accused poking her finger into Chris' chest "And just who was it that saved your ass, huh?"

Chris didn't falter "Yes you did save me, but I still don't want you in such a dangerous situation where you could get killed!"

"Newsflash Chris, we are in that situation right now!" Liz shot back "And I for one would rather go down fighting!"

Chris growled lightly until he felt Ryu's hand on his shoulder "She just wants to make sure that you'll be safe Chris." Ryu said calmly before turning to Liz "And he wants to do the same with you Liz." He turned back to Chris "You can argue all you want but in the end it is still up to her if she wants to fight or not, do you really think that I want Kira or any of you to fight?" he asked rhetorically "In the end it your decision if you fight or not."

Chris glared at Ryu for a minute as Ryu met his glare with a calm look before Chris sighed relenting "Fine, just, just make certain that you stick close, alright?" he pleaded.

"Alright Chris," Liz said solemnly before grinning "I'll be nearby to save your ass again."

Everyone chuckled at Chris' flustered expression.

"I'm going too." Sarah said. "I'm not sitting around and letting you guys do all the work."

"Well, I'm fighting too." Jordan said, standing up. "Heliopolis is my home, and my friends are on this ship. I'll be damned if I don't help."

"The same goes here." Matthew said. "If my Brother wants to protect it, then its good enough reason for me to join in."

Suddenly the ship alarm started going off '_Level One battle Stations, all Pilots to your machines._' Natarle's voice barked through the intercom.

Ryu swore colorfully before he started barking out his own orders "Guys, I'll show you the way to the Hanger, Everyone else, _stay here_." He said before running off to the Hanger with the rest close on his heels.

Storming into the Hanger they jumped into their machines and started powering up "Hey what about a pilot suit!" Murdoch shouted out to Ryu.

"No time!" he shouted back as he sealed the cockpit and started up his mobile suit and opened a video link with Kira "Hey Kira, use the Sword Striker pack, it's close range so it should prevent any damage to the colony superstructure."

"_Understood, Be safe Ryu." _She pleaded "_And don't do anything to reckless._"

"_I will and I won't_" he swore before kissing his lips and placing them on the screen where her lips were, smiling she returned the gesture before closing the link.

Settling into his seat he opened a link to the bridge "Control this is Hisanaga, do you read?"

"_Control here, I read ya._" Mu's voice filtered through

Grinning Ryu shook his head "I need the Trikeros Shield unit and the sniper rifle."

"_Ask and yea shall receive_" Mu joked as Ryu's suit got loaded up "_Fly safe and Hunt well Dragon._"

"Same to you Hawk. Ryu Hisanaga, Dragon, Engaging the enemy!"

_Jordan_

"Hey Mu," I said as I walked into the Catapult. "Does the Katana have any of those Striker pack things?"

"_Umm…ya actually._" He said. "_You've got three modes. Buster, Duel, and Blitz packs. Buster packs will give you a shit-load of weapons, Duel gives you a beam rifle and two wrist-gataling guns, and Blitz gives you a extra beam saber, beam rifle, Lancer darts, and a sniper rifle. Along with some Mirage colloid stealth system. The same thing the Shadow Scythe and Blitz have._"

"Hmm," I said. "Lets try…the Duel pack."

"_Ok…and presto!_" my suit gained additional armaments. "Thanks, Mu! Jordan Takeo, Katana, Lets Rock and Roll!"

"Chris Dante, Raven, Taking off!"

"Kira Yamato, Sword Strike, Launching!"

"Liz Dante, Zephyr, Let's go!"

"Sarah Lenix, Slash, Lets do it!"

"Matthew Takeo, Shadow Scythe, Lets cut e'm up!"

"_Is there anything specific you're going to need, Commander? You should know that the Predator is capable of using the Strike's weaponry, Like the Agni and the Schwerht Gewerh,"_ Natarle said over the radio.

"Thanks for the info, but I'll stick with the standard package, just the beam rifle for me" Sebastian said.

The Predator, was essentially the Strike with an Aile Striker Pack hardwired onto it, thus was capable of using the other Striker packs as well. Although Predator had its own unique extras package. Twin 37mm cannons mounted in the shoulder. In the right arm was a fold out vibroblade for close quarters combat, and the left arm contained a shock cord, a thin wire attached to a magnetic anchor that would deliver a powerful electric charge that could disable enemy mobile suits.

"what's the situation outside?" said Sebastian.

_"We've got 7 GINNs, armed with missiles, and…the Aegis and Akuma"_, Natarle's voice was bitter, _"You were right, they really do want us dead."_

"Sebastian Connor, Predator, Launching!"

Once they were in the air Chris and Liz both flipped their machines into mobile armor mode with Kira catching a ride on the Raven. Jordan and Matthew took flanking positions behind Sebastian and Ryu leading the way. A golden flash caught Ryu eyes as they flew onward to intercept the enemy mobile suits "Well damn, there here too," he said before flipping open his radio "Alright listen up you will split up and attack your targets separately, leave the gold and black GINNs to me. They're aces and you're not quite ready for them."

They all replied affirmative as they accelerated forward with Kira attacking the Aegis, both Chris and Liz took a pair of GINNs each, Sebastian moved to engage a few GINNs, and Matthew and Jordan made a bee-line to the Akuma. Hanging back Ryu drew out his sniper rifle and activated the sniper mode causing the 'V' on the suits forehead to slide down reveling a high powered camera and causing a targeting scope to slide down in the cockpit.

_With Naleen_

Naleen sighed as she rolled her neck prepping for combat when her alarms went off alerting them of the approaching mobile suits "We have seven confirmed bogies boys," she alerted the others as her Golden colored GINN was customized with a high powered Radar that worked well with her sniping skills "Remember Leave the Dragon to myself and Jacques."

"_Understood, leave the Strike for me_." Athrun said over his radio.

"_I will handle Matthew and that second suit._" Kane stated.

After a quick chorus of affirmatives they group split up and attacked their respective targets with another pair attacking the legged ship. Frowning Naleen searched the battlefield for her target only to be forced to dodge a series of green beams from her right. Turning she saw the green-black figure of the Dragon quite a ways away with its rifle at the ready firing off high-powered blast. Bringing her own sniper to bear she took aim and started firing at her opponent only for the shots to bounce harmlessly off of the suit. '_Come on, where are you Jacques._' She thought in frustration as the pair continued to exchange sniper fire with Ryu being forced to dodge as she was now aiming for his camera on the Dragon's forehead.

And as if summoned Jacques appeared behind Ryu in his black custom GINN with sound and heat dampeners and a Radar proof alloy coating his katana slashing at Ryu from behind. And as if he had eyes on the back of his head Ryu ducked under the slash and delivered a viscous kick to the black GINN's torso knocking it away before putting his rifle away and bringing Mesamune to bear and activating his Trikeros' built in beam saber. Naleen swore that if that suit had a face it would be grinning like a madman.

_With Chris_

Chris swore violently as he barrel rolled under another blast from the GINN carrying the beam cannon before firing some shots Duel Machine guns and cannons forcing the GINN to evade the attacks before Chris had to evade yet again when the second GINN opened up with its cannon "Dammit they are shooting far to recklessly," he swore as he saw the shot impact with the ground "If they keep this up, they'll destroy the colony."

Gritting his teeth Chris transformed into his mobile suit mode and returned fire with his cannons before drawing one of his beam sabers and going in close for an attack only for the opposing GINN to suddenly drop under the attack leaving Chris wide open "Well shit," he muttered as he brought up his shield and blocked the shot causing his suit to buck backwards from the blast.

Turning into his Mobile armor mode he charged straight at the GINN that fired the shot surprising the pilot as he broke through the dust that had been kicked up from the blast. Firing his short range energy cannons he tore through the opposing suit destroying it, before transforming back into suit mode and squaring off against his final opponent.

_With Liz_

Rolling her fighter like mobile suit Liz dodge the series of large missiles that were fired at her before switching to mobile suit mode and firing her beam rifle destroying the missiles before they could impact with the colony "You god damn reckless idiots!" She snarled as she dodged a shot from the second GINNs beam cannon and shot back at the GINN only for it to dodge.

Pushing her suit back she dodged the other suits slash from its katana before she opened up using her shoulder mounted rail guns tearing the top half of the GINN apart before it exploded. Switching into her jet form she dodge the blast that the final GINN shot off before she fired a volley of missile's forcing the GINN to go on the defensive, she then switched to suit mode and drew one of her beam sabers and started attacking her opponent in close range in the hopes of preventing him the chance to attack.

"Just fall already!" she shouted as she was forced to dodge a kick followed up by a cannon blast. Putting away her beam saber she quickly pulled out her beam rifle as the pair continued to exchange shots.

_With Kira_

Quickly maneuvering the Strike Kira went on the offensive with her Anti-ship sword clashing with the Aegis' own beam sabers when a communication from the Aegis broke through "Kira, Kira Yamato, is that you?" Athrun's voice asked.

"Athrun, Athrun Zala!"

"Kira, what are you doing in an Earth Forces mobile suit?"

"I could ask you the same thing Athrun, why are fighting with ZAFT forces, I thought you hated war!"

"I do hate war, but the EA _must_ be eliminated!"

Kira flinched at her old friend's anger filled tone "So why? Why are you piloting for the EA, don't you know what monsters they are, Kira!"

"It's not the Earth Forces that I'm flying for Athrun," Kira said calmly "I'm fighting right now so that my home isn't destroyed!"

Kira could here Athrun inhaled sharply through the radio "I'm fighting so that my friends aren't killed, all because you are attacking _my home!_" she shouted punctuating it with a kick to the Aegis' torso forcing the Aegis to back off. "I really do not want to fight anyone, especially you Athrun, so please, don't make me chose between my friends!"

"Can't you see that your so called friends are using you!" Athrun snarled as he righted the Aegis "They only want you to fight for them, they don't care about you!"

"Bullshit Athrun, the people that I am fighting for have never cared that I am a Coordinator, they accepted me for who I am, and who ever said that I am the only Coordinator! My friends are both Coordinators and Naturals! In case you forgot, you are in an ORB colony! Where both Coordinators and Naturals live together."

"I don't believe that! If they were truly neutral than they wouldn't have constructed the mobile suits for the EA!"

"It was Morgenrate, not the government, that constructed the mobile suits, an independent company!" Kira shouted as she pushed the strike forward and slashed at Athrun.

"Kira." Athrun muttered as he dodged the slash and tried to put some distance between them.

_Sebastian_

While Kira was busy with the Aegis, and everone else in their own private battles, Sebastian was racing toward two armed GINNs, he figured that he might as well let himself be known, and let out a mournful howl.

"So it IS you Storm Wolf of Jachin Due!" one of them roared in anger.

"Traitor! After what you did to Migue!" the other accused.

"Olor and Patterson, huh? Miguel's death was accidental, I had no choice. But I'm not going to let you destroy this ship, no matter what" Sebastian's voice was like steel.

"You're not getting off that easy! We have to avenge Miguel!" Patterson said.

"Then so be it!" Sebastian said, howling once more, but this one was more intimidating.

He pulled out two beam sabers and charged the GINNs at full speed. Predator stopped on a dime right between the two machines. Olor and Patterson goggled, as the last thing they ever saw was Predator neatly placing a beam saber in each cockpit, and both machines exploded, with arms still clutching the missile launchers.

_Archangel_, Bridge

Everyone on the bridge of the Archangel could only goggle at the precision that the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due used to destroy two GINNs, and everyone agreed with the Hawk of Endymion's simple and oh-so-eloquent statement.

"I'm REALLY glad that the kid's on our side!"

_With Ryu_

Ryu had to admit, the pair had improved since he last fought them in the battle of Endymion, their team work was streamlined and often put him on the defensive, even after he destroyed Jacques' katana forcing him to use his rifle instead. Moving to the side he dodged a shot from Naleen's sniper rifle as she kept her distance from the dueling pair, bringing his suit around he drew out his sniper rifle but didn't go into sniper mode, instead he brought both the rifle and Trikeros to bear on Jacques GINN and fired off a series of shots crippling the machine and removing it from combat before turning back to Final opponent "One down, one to go." He muttered as he went into sniper mode and started a deadly dance with the golden sniper.

_With Jordan_

"Holy shit!" Matthew shouted as he ducked the Akuma's beam saber that nearly cut the Shadow Scythe's head clean off. "Jordan, why didn't you tell me he was there?"

"I didn't see him there before!" I replied as I fired my gataling cannons at the Akuma. The black mobile suit used the buildings as cover, and flew low to the ground, missing my barrage of weapons fire.

"Just how fast is that thing?" I complained as I drew out the beam rifle, and took aim.

"_Jordan, Wait!_" Matthew said. "_The beam could do damage on Heliopolis!_"

_Damn. _I thought as I holstered the rifle, and drew out my swords.

Unfortunity, Kane did not share our same hesitation. He raised the Akuma's hands and started firing a barrage of green beams from his suits hands. Me and my brother managed to dodge the barrage, but what missed up, impacted on the interior of Heliopolis.

"Damnit! Matt, we gotta take this guy out now before he destroys all of Heliopolis!" I shouted.

"_easier said than done Jordan!_" Matthew said. He then unfolded his machine cannons, and let loose with his two cannons. The Akuma jumped up and fired its own beam cannons at the Shadow Scythe, but Matthew dodged just in time.

"If anything, could we cut off one of its arms? Or both?" I asked as I drew my Katana swords. "Those beam cannons are starting to piss me off!"

"_Allow me!_" A voice on the radio said. From above, the Slash with its Exia Sword/Rifle drawn, decended upon the Akuma.

Sarah swiped the sword once, but the Akuma evaded. But he didn't notice that in Sarah's other arm was a single beam Dagger, and she then pulled the dagger up, and cut off the Akuma's right arm off.

"FUCKING FINALLY!" Matthew cheered on the Radio. "We got a piece of that bastard!"

"Way to go Sarah!" I said as the Katana hoved up to the Slash.

The Akuma, now missing an arm, began to retreat . "_Bastards…all of you!_" We could hear him shout. "_Next time we meet…your dead. You'll all pay you Natural loving bastards!_"

My grip on the controls tightened. "And we will be waiting you murderer." I snarled as the Akuma dissipeared.

"_Come on, lets finish this up!_" Matthew said as he took out his beam scythe, and advanced against the remaining enemy GINN's.

"Alright, lets do this!" I said as I formed the duel-Katana, and charged forward.

_Archangel, Bridge_

"Dammit, we aren't getting anywhere like this," Mu growled as the Archangel shook from the numerous impacts to the hull from the pair of GINNs circling them unable to take them out with the warships missile's or Igelstellungs "Give me full control of the Godfrieds!"

"Commander La Flagga!" Natarle protested "Do you know how astronomically impossible it is for you to hit a GINN with the main cannons?"

"Don't you know, I make the impossible possible." Mu bragged as he took control of one of the Godfried cannons and took aim at one the GINN's dancing around the Archangel pulling the trigger he managed to hit the GINN destroying the lower half of the mobile suit, but also destroying the main support structure of the Colony "OH SHIT!"

_Moments Before_

_Back With Sebastian_

Sebastian ducked under another shot from a GINN, and finished it off with a shot from his beam rifle. He then took a moment to observe the current situation.

Ryu was finishing up with the golden GINN with a sniper rifle, didn't seem like it would take much longer. The Dante sibilings were firing at any missiles fired at the ship, or the colony, Sarah, Matthew and Jordan just finished up with the Akuma, and moved to assist the Archangel.

As for Kira, she was in a one-on-one duel with the Aegis. Sebastian decided, since most of the GINNs were taken care of, to assist the Strike pilot.

"Kira, we need to get out of here!" Sebastian said with urgency.

"You! How could you kill Miguel, Olor, and Patterson like that!" The Pilot of the Aegis yelled at Sebastian, "You were a hero to us!"

"If you want to someone to blame, blame your old man!" Sebastian retorted, "Kira we need to get out of here! Those missiles are going to…" He never got a chance to finish as the Archangel fired its Godfrieds at a GINN, destroying it, and striking the shaft interior. Time seemed to slow down as the entire colony just splintered apart like it was nothing.

_Damnit! _Sebastian thought as the Predator quickly landed on the Archangel's forward landing deck.

_With Ryu_

Ryu's eyes widened as he saw the support structure get destroyed "No, I've failed, GOD DAMMIT ALL." He swore violently as the colony started to fall apart. Looking around frantically he saw the ZAFT forces beginning to withdraw from the colony, to his right the Zephyr, Raven, Slash, Katana, and Shadow Scythe were trying to get to the Archangel fighting against the winds generated by the explosive decompression looking over to where he saw Kira last his eyes widened in fear as she was desperately fighting against the winds and trying to avoid the Aegis who was in mobile armor mode trying to capture the Strike in its claws.

"Kira!" Ryu cried over the radio out at he started firing off volleys of shots from his rifle forcing the Aegis to back off as the Dragon flew in between the Aegis and the Strike "Back off" he growled to the pilot of the Aegis both the Mesamune and the beam saber of the Trikeros extended and ready for combat when the station shook again causing the mobile suits to lurch. Acting quickly out of instinct honed by battle Ryu quickly turned his mobile suit and withdrew his weapons to grab the Strike just as the station gave one final lurch as it fell apart with its pieces spiraling off into space separating the Dragon and Strike from the Aegis.

_With Athrun_

Athrun snarled as he punched the view screen in front of him as his suit was drifting helplessly away from Kira and the Dragon "Dammit. Why did he have to go and interfere?" He questioned no one in particular half wanting to go back and kill the pilot of the Dragon _'Not that you would be able to,_' a voice whispered in the back of his head '_After all, he _is_ the legendary Dragon of Endymion and has more experience and Skill than you._'

"Dammit." He cursed once more as he turned his suit around and made his way to the Vesalius.

_Gamow_, Pilot's ready room

Nicol's eyes widened in terror as Heliopolis simply disintegrated, "The colony…It's…It's gone." Nicol stated, eyes in horror."How…? How could it have come to this?" Dearka placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

"I'm certain Sebastian made it out," Dearka said, "If he could survive Endymion, then this is nothing."

"But even still, why the entire colony?" Yuuka said.

"The root of it is the Earth Forces. They were the ones who chose to violate Heliopolis' neutrality. But it may very well been Commander Connor himself who did it," Yzak pointed out.

Nicol Amalfi is normally known to be a quiet, sensitive young man, who doesn't have a violent bone in his body, until you insulted the man he considered his older brother. In the span of a few seconds, Nicol had Yzak pinned against the wall, by his throat.

"How DARE you! Sebastian would never do anything of the sort! You take that back you cockbiting fucktard!" Nicol snarled, throwing in Sebastian's trademark insult for good measure.

Yzak gurgled, "I'm just saying, Nicol. Sebastian destroyed the GINNs, but he didn't destroy them completely. The missile racks were still intact, and they went off. If he had destroyed them completely, this may not have happened." Nicol then released the death grip on his teammate, and went back to looking out the view port towards the ruins of the colony.

_Sebastian, I hope you're okay, and I hope you're doing the right thing. _Nicol thought.

_Meanwhile_

_Onboard the Hades_

Zar Hellfury stood on the bridge of the _Aztec _class battleship _Hades. _He was currently waiting for a report from her daughter, Sayla Hellfury, as he had sent her to investigate some strange activity around Heliopolis.

"Sir, incoming message for Sayla's team." Captain Dren said. Zar smiled. "Good," he said. "patch her though."

The front view screen then showed a woman in a cockpit, wearing a red zaft flight suit, blond hair, and blue eyes. "Commander," she said.

Zar crossed his arms across his chest. "Sayla, how many times must I tell you, you can call me Father when its just us." He said. "Anyways, whats the word?"

"Uhh…" Sayla said, scratching her hair. "We have a slight situation…I'm sending the combat data to you now."

A few moments later, a video feed showing ZAFT GINN's attacking the _Neutral _colony of Heliopolis, a large explotion on the side of the said colony, followed by a familure white CGUE exiting through the hole, and ending it off with a series of explostions, and Heliopolis collapsing.

"And, that's what happened." Sayla said.

"….Dren, take command for several minutes." Zar said.

"Sir."

Zar then walked up to the side of the bridge, and started slamming his head into the wall repetivly. "DAMNIT, DAMNIT, DAMNIT, DAMNIT, DAMNIT!" he screams as he continues banging his head, the whole bridge crew watching.


	6. Phase 4: Hellfury

_Miguel: Orlo, are we dead?_

_Orlo: looks that way…no thanks to you._

_Miguel: Hey, its not my fault that we died!_

_Orlo: Actually, it is. Its entirely your fault._

_117Jorn:SPACE_

_Miguel and Orlo: ah!_

_117Jorn: A black abicus of white twinkely bits._

_Miguel: Whos that?_

_Orlo: How the hell should I know?_

_117Jorn: Between the beads, each crum, a star in itself. _

_Miguel: an abacus…what the hell is that?_

_117Jorn: and in this void…_

_Orlo: is it about Twinkeys?_

_117Jorn: Hey you two!_

_Miguel and Orlo: AH!_

_117Jorn: Stop ruining my dictation! I work hard on this thing ya know!_

_Orlo: Doesn't sound like it. Doesn't make any sence._

_117Jorn: I'm the Author/Narrorator! I don't need to make sence!_

_Miguel: Author?...so are you like God or something?_

_117Jorn:…umm…ya I guess so._

_Orlo: could you…bring us back to life?_

_117Jorn: Fuck no!_

_Miguel and Orlo: Why not?_

_117Jorn: Because that would be contradicting the plot!_

_Miguel: what plot?_

_117Jorn: of…my fanfic._

_Orlo: wait…a what?_

_117Jorn: Uh…this will take awhile. Anyways, to all ya'll reading, please enjoy as I explain to these idiots what a fanfic is._

_Miguel and Orlo: HEY!_

_With Kira_

Kira groaned as consciousness returned to her, her head aching from when it smashed against the cockpit when Heliopolis fell apart "No," she whimpered as she saw the debris float around her "I've failed."

"_No, we've failed._" Ryu's sad voice filtered through the radio as his face popped up on the video link "_I'm sorry Kira, if only-_"

"Don't," she whispered surprising Ryu "We did our best, and the only people who got hurt are the ones who refused to evacuate to the shelters when the warning came on."

"_Yeah,_" he whispered back giving a sad smile "C'mon_, let's get back to the Archangel, I've already reported that we are alive and well, Sebastian and Liz are fine to, they managed to get aboard before the station collapsed. We're still looking for Jordan, Matthew, Chris and Sarah, but I'm sure their fine. _"

Kira nodded in relief as she maneuvered her suit beside Ryu's as they started back to the Archangel.

Chirs stared out at the debris field of what had been his home for a few days short of a year. But now it was gone. Nothing more than dust in the wind.

"_X9… ta… 05 Str… 10… cer… ash…_" a static filled voice called over the radio.

A few seconds later, it came back, this time at full strength. "_X900 Katana, GAT-X201 Slash, GAT- X105 Strike,GAT-X000 Dragon,GAT-X305 Raven, GAT-X901 Shadow Scythe, please respond._"

"This is the Raven," called Chris over the radio. "Is that you _Archangel_?"

"_Affirmative Raven,_" the voice of Ensign Badgiruel answered. "_What's your status?_"

"Shaken but I'm okay."

"Can you see the Other G-Weapons?"

Chris took a quick look around. He spotted the _Archangel_ in the distance, but couldn't see any of his friends' machines.

"No, I can't see them."

"_Very well then. Return to the ship._"

"On my way."

_Archangel_, Bridge

"The Raven should be on its way back here. I still can't see him in the debris, but I was finally able to contact him." Natarle reported.

"What about the others?" Sebastian asked.

"Ryu and Kira reported in a few moments ago, and are on their way back. But Chris will be here before them. As for the pilots of the Katana, Shadow Scythe, and Slash, no word from them yet."

"Good, keep me posted," said Murrue.

"Well, that's one detail taken care of, now we just have to figure out what to do next. You…think they'll come after us?" Mu said. The answer to that question did not come from Murrue.

"Most definitely Lieutenant, most definitely" Sebastian said as he came on the bridge after landing Predator, "Like I said earlier, once Le Creuset sets himself to a goal, he doesn't stop, and it doesn't matter how many are killed."

"You mentioned something about learning that at Endymion, care to elaborate?" Mu said.

"That cockbite was in overall command at Endymion. He ordered my team to take part in laying siege to the base itself. I had lost four people already and the rest of them had been pinned down by Igellstellung batteries on the surface, and weren't able to escape when the Cyclops went off" said Sebastian, trying hard to keep his voice from cracking, "In hindsight, I would have been down there too, Lieutenant, if you and I hadn't been trying to settle our old score."

"So the question is now, where do we go from here?" said Murrue.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I think our best bet is Artemis," said Sebastian.

"The Eurasian military satellite with the light wave barrier?" said Mu.

"The same, but it won't be easy. I'm fully aware of the _Nazca's_ sensor and speed capabilities. Even with a good head start, the _Vesalius _may very well detect us and catch up with us, and I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm not about to just lay down and declare defeat."

"So how do we evade them?" asked Natarle.

"A diversion, this ship has decoys, doesn't it? If we deploy those on a course for the moon, then maybe, extra emphasis on the maybe, Rau will pursue the decoy, while we make a silent run to Artemis. However knowing the man the way I do, it probably won't work, but it's better than nothing" said Sebastian.

Murrue was about to say something when Natarle's voice cut in, "What did you say? On whose authority?"

Murrue, Mu, and Sebastian peered into the CIC, "What is it, Ensign?" Murrue asked.

"The Raven has returned Captain, but he's carrying what appears to be a Heliopolis lifeboat. He wants to bring it aboard!"

"And the problem is…what?" Sebastian said, his disgust for the ensign growing with each moment.

"Commander Connor, this is a highly sophisticated, and classified warship, not a space transport, we can't just let civilians come aboard and do whatever they please!" Natarle said.

"Ensign, you obviously have been under a rock for the last couple of hours, because Kira and his friends are aboard, so you should reevaluate your view on this, really quickly", said Sebastian.

"Lieutenant, surely you're not…" Natarle began.

"Give him permission. We don't have time to argue over such petty matters," Murrue gave a sharp glare to quell protest, "Just give him permission, so that he'll land and we can get underway."

"Yes, ma'am" Natarle huffed, and Sebastian sent a smug grin to her.

_With Jordan_

"_Jordan…Jordan you alright? Hey little bro, speak to me!_"

Matthew's voice was the first thing I noticed when I regained consiouness, next to the fact my head hurt like hell. _Fuck! _I thought. _Did I get hit by a brick?_ I shook off the pain, and blinked a few times to clear my vision. "I'm fine matt." I replied. "But…could I get the licenses plate of the _Nazca _that hit me?"

Matthew chuckled slightly, but then I noticed where we were.

"…no…" I muttered. Heliopolis…was destroyed. Debrie filled the space that was once my home. "No…not…heliopilis…"

"I'm sorry Jordan." Matthew said. "I should have tried-"

"Matt, stop with the should haves and shit." I interrupted him. "Whats done is done. And hopefully, the others Parents made it out alive."

Matthew nodded. "So are you able to move?"

"Ya." I said. "Engines are operating- hu?"

I then noticed a twinkling light, I looked to see the Slash floating nearby. "Sarah!" I said as I boosted towards the Slash, with the Shadow Scythe following.

"Sarah?" I asked. "Sarah, are you alright?" No reply. "Sarah!" I said, louder. Now I got a reply. "J..Jordan?" A soft voice said. I slouched in releaf. "Sarah…" I said. "Are you alright?" "Y-y-y-yes." She stuttered. "But…Heliopolis…"

"We tried our best, Sarah." I said. "If we're lucky, your Parents and Scout got out alright."

"Ya…" Sarah said. "Can your suit move?" I asked.

She flicked a few switches, her engines egnighted, but then they shorted out. "Its damaged." She said. "The engines are offline."

"Come on." I said, I had the Katana grab the Slash by its hand. "I'll carry ya back." She smiled. "Bringing back any memories?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "Ya…" she said. "When we first met."

FLASHBACK

6 Years ago

Sarah crouched down behind a large green Dumpster. She got lost from her Sister, and her parents, and now a group of thugs chased her through the alley's of Orb. _Why didd'nt they leave me alone? _She thought as she hugged her knees. One of the bullies kicked her, and now her leg hurt a lot. She had a lot of other bruses, and cuts. _Why did they hit me? I never even met them before! _She thought, on the verge of crying.

"Hey, are you alright?" A calm voice said. Sarah startled, and looked up. Standing a few feet in front of her, crouching down was a boy just as old as she was. She never met this boy before, would he start hitting her too? She backed away, her back now against the Dumpster. "Hey, don't worry." The kid said, kneeling down more. "I'm not gonna hurt you. What's your name?"

Sarah looked at the boy. He had Short brown hair, looking like it was cut recently. And he had deep brown eyes. He was also wearing a Red-and-black shirt, with blue jeans, and a blue Jacket. It was the eyes that she looked deeply into. They were…peaceful. His face was reassuring, and she felt…safe with this boy…even though she never met him before, she felt something with him.

"S-s-Sarah L-Lenix." She stuttered, tightening her Grip on her hurting legs. The boy smiled. "Nice to meet you Sarah." He said. "My name is Jordan Takeo. Are you alright Sarah?" Sarah calmed down slightly. "N-no." she said. "My legs hurt, my left really bad. And I'm…cold."

Jordan thought for a moment, he then took on his Blue jacket and put it on Sarah's shoulders, witch she blushed ever so slightly too. "That alittle better?" Jordan Asked, Sarah nodded. "Yes." She said. "But my legs still hurt." "Where do you live?" Jordan asked. "If you want I can…" he blushed alittle. "…carry you home?" She thought about it for a moment. "…Tushiki street, 106." She said. "Really? Wow I live at 105!" he said. "Strange we never met." Sarah smiled.

Then he helped her onto his back. "Wow, your light Sarah." He said, witch she blushed in embarisment too. "Hey, do you have any friends?" Jordan asked. Sarah grew sad again "No, I don't," she admitted "Just my sister, and my Parents really...but nobody else." "Well you do now!" Jordan shouted. Sarah had a shocked expression on her face before smiling widely and giving Jordan a tight hug from behind as he blushed. "Thank you, so much!" She said. "D-Don't mention it!" he stuttered out, blushing even more causing her to lauph.

"Sarah!" A voice called out. The two turned to face another girl, slightly taller than Jordan, and Sarah. She was running forward, her brown hair was just as short as Sarah's at ear-length, and with brown eyes. She also at the moment had he hands into red fists. "I swear if you hurt my sister I'm gonna-!" she yelled as she raised her fists. "Sis, wait!" Sarah shouted, causing her to stop in her tracks. "B-but Sarah-" she said, but she was cut off by Sarah. "He's not mean!" She said. "He's nice…he helped me!" For a good few seconds, the three staired at eachother.

Then the girl sighed. "Sorry." She said to Jordan. "I diddnt mean to scare ya." "Naw, ya diddnt scare me." Jordan said, smiling. "Jordan Takeo." The girl smiled. "Scout Lenix." She said. "If you haven't guessed, I'm Sarah's older sister." She then looked at the condition her sister was in, and she gasped. "S-Sarah!" she said, running to her side. "What happened to you?" "Some people chased me." She said, still memerized from when she was attacked. "They kept hitting me…they wouldn't stop…" she continued to hold back the urge to cry.

Scout bit her lip, feeling that she should have been there. "I'm…so sorry." She managed to get out. "Its ok." Sarah said. "Good thing is, I made a new friend!" Scout raised an eyebrow, she then looked at Sarah, then at Jordan, and then back to Sarah. Then she smiled. "Well at least one good thing happened." She said. "Come on, let's go home." "Actually, I was taking her home." Jordan said. "She said her legs hurt, so I'm carrying her there." Scout nodded. "Ok, then." She said. "Well, lead the way."

END FLASHBACK

"I still can't believe how low people sink to." I said, as we moved towards the Archangel. "What kind of sick group of people would beat up a little girl?" "People that really hate coordinators." Matthew said grimly. "We both know how bad things can get all too well." I nodded. "I hope that the Orb police got those bastards." I said when we entered the hanger.

_With Chris, moments earlier_

Chris emerged from the Raven as the lifeboat hatch was opened, the first person to emerge was a red-haired girl with the slim figure of a ballerina, wearing a pink dress, the massive gray duffle bag hanging from her shoulder and the wolf head katana in her hand seeming very out of place for the girl.

"Flay Allster?" Chris said in surprise.

Flay was equally surprised, "You're Chris, right?", She pushed off and slammed into Kira, giving him a big hug as they drifted across the hanger.

"I can't believe we're safe!" Flay said, "I lost my friends in a store, and the alarms were going off, I didn't think I would make it!"

"What is all of this? It can't be yours can it?" said Chris.

"No it belongs to me," Sebastian said, "I was the one that got Miss Allster into the shelter, and I left it with her."

"YOU!" Flay shrieked, "Why didn't you tell me you were with ZAFT!"

"You didn't ask." Sebastian said, a wry smile on his face, "So, you looked in my bag, didn't you?"

"You better believe I did!" Flay screeched, "After I was put inside, I wanted to see if I could learn anything about you, imagine my surprise when I find a ZAFT uniform!"

"This probably won't make any difference to you, but I'm no longer with ZAFT" said Sebastian.

"You're right it doesn't make a difference to me! A Coordinator is a Coordinator, and that's final!" Flay was screaming now.

"Is it too much to ask for my bag and sword back?" Sebastian asked.

"Here! Take them! _Commander_" Flay said saying the last word like an insult, throwing them at the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due, as he easily caught it.

"Thanks for looking after them," Sebastian said simply, "Just so you know this _is_ an Earth Forces ship, so you're not in any danger."

"A likely story!" said Flay, "This could all be a trap! There are mobile suits here!"

"Those mobile suits _are_ Earth Alliance!" Chris interjected.

"Yeah, both of us were flying them, the same with Ryu, Kira, Liz, Sarah, Jordan, and his Brother Matthew. We're the only ones who can, seeing as how they are all Coordinators as well as me and Chris" Sebastian said, clapping his hand on his mouth once he realized the secret was out. _Me and my big fucking mouth! _He thought.

"All…of you?" Flay breathed, her face looking like she was face to face with the devil.

"Oh fuckberries" Sebastian said, before Flay let off a massive scream that could be heard all the way on the bridge, followed with two massive FWAPS.

Chris and Sebastian were now standing there, each with a massive hand print swell on their cheek.

"All of you stay as far away from me as possible!" Flay hissed, as she turned and headed for the cafeteria.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would," Sebastian said.

"She slapped both of us! How can that be good?" Chris said.

"She could have taken my sword and tried to kill us," Sebastian said.

"Okay, dumb question," Chris said, looking just a bit sullen.

"You like her, don't you?" Sebastian said. a knowing grin on his face.

"Maybe a little, Okay, a lot, you happy?" Chris said, after Sebastian just cocked his head, and folded his arms giving him a look that said, _yeah right!_

"Nothing wrong with that at all" Sebastian said, "But I hate to say it to you bro, her father is an undersecretary in the Atlantic Federation. George Allster is known to be _very_ anti-Coordinator, and judging from what we just saw, the apple _really_ hasn't fallen too far from the tree."

"It also really doesn't help that she seems to be involved with Sai," Chris added, remembering one of Flay's friends say that Sai had given the red-haired beauty a letter, "But, she can't be that hateful of Coordinators…can she?"

"I can't say Chris. I'm willing to give Flay the benefit of the doubt that she's been fed anti-Coordinator propaganda by her father since she was a child, and she doesn't know any better," said Sebastian, "But I don't want to get your hopes up either. People don't just change overnight. So ask yourself, it is worth it to lust after her? Think about it."

With that, Sebastian shouldered his bag, and left the Raven pilot alone with his thoughts.

_Shortly after_

Ryu and Kira touched down and guided their suits into the hanger before parking the suits onto the bracing and recharging platforms and stepping out.

Pushing off from the Strike Kira allowed herself a moment to adjust to the feeling of a Zero-gee environment before making her way over to to Ryu who was floating nearby the escape pod. He smiled reassuringly as he slipped an arm around her shoulder as he held her close to him "Don't worry," he soothed "I'm sure your parents are fine."

Kira only bit her lip gently as she pushed herself deeper into the embrace "I know, but I still worry." She admitted.

"Then don't." Ryu said, as they made their way through the Archangel. "Murrue said it herself, Heliopolis was completely evacuated, with the exception of us, of course. Just have some faith."

Kira smiled, and nodded. "Ya…" she said. "Your right."

Ryu and Kira made their way through the hallways to the dorm they had occupied last night when Mu intercepted them. "What's up Hawk, and make it quick were tired." Ryu commented and punctuated it with a yawn.

Mu only gave snort as he passed the two of them packages "Here these are your uniforms," he explained "Ryu, the captain decided to have you as her second in command on the ship and direct control of the pilots."

Ryu raised an eyebrow as Kira looked slightly bewildered "Let me get this straight, she wants _me_, the guy who left the EA after slaughtering lord knows how many _EA_ soldiers at Junius Seven?" he as incredulously "IS she on something, cause I'll have what she's having."

Mu laughed out loud at his comment and his confused expression "She want you to be her second because you have actual combat experience and, unlike me, Sebastian or Badgiruel you have the trust of the civilian pilots and a portion of the civilians from the escape pod _and_ most of the mechanical crew led by Murdoch." He explained as he repeated what Murrue said to him before she sent him to give the news and deliver the uniforms.

Ryu sighed as he tucked the package under his arm "Fine, but I'm going to bed." He moan as he started walking again only for Mu to stop him once more.

"You have your own quarters now Ryu," Mu said "All of the crew does, but we're having to double up due to space constraints, as it is I'm bunking with Neumann, the ships pilot, Chris and Liz are sharing a room because their sibling, Sarah got lucky with her own room, Matthew and Jordan, like the Dante's are bunking together, and unfortunately the two of you will have to share a room as well." He added with a sly smirk.

Ryu and Kira blinked at the blond before Ryu groaned once again and rubbed his temples "You had something to do with that didn't you." He stated as Mu whistled innocently while Kira was fighting down a blush that threatened to overtake her, but was failing miserably.

"Anyways I'll show ya to your quarters." Mu said after being forced to dodge a half-hearted punch from Ryu.

After Mu guided them to their room Kira stepped into the bathroom and quickly discarded her civvies and changed into the under garments that was provided realizing that she couldn't wear her uniform to bed she started blushing furiously '_I'll Kill him._' She swore as she thought of that bastard blond before she noticed something other than her uniform in the package. It was a simple white shirt that was a couple of sizes too large for her, but would work well for sleeping in. '_Well, maybe I'll just kick him in the nads._' She amended with a smirk as she put the shirt on before gathering up her clothes and exited.

Ryu promptly blushed a light shade of pink when he saw that Kira was only wearing an oversized shirt as she giggled at his flustered expression she stole a light kiss before he gather his own stuff and entered the bathroom and exited a short while later in a pair of boxers and a shirt and smiled at the form of Kira curled up in one of the beds fast asleep. "Good night Kira." He whispered softly as he pulled the covers over her before tuning the light off and climbed into his own bed and promptly fell asleep.

_With Jordan_

Once I got into the earth volunteer uniform, I couldn't help but scratch at every place possible. "This thing is more scratchy than that suit mom made me wear to that Christmas church service." I complained.

"Your telling me." Matthew said. I turned around, and I noticed him wearing the same E.A uniform as I was. "Never in my life did I think I would wear _this._"

I lauphed out loud. "Same here." I said as we entered out room.

"So Jordan," Matthew said with a fiendish grin on his face. "Is Sarah your Girlfriend?"

I choked, and my eyes went wide. "W-what?" I said. "N-no! Sarah's not my Girlfriend!"

"Oh, come on Jordan!" Matthew said as he sat down in his bed. "I _saw _the look you give her. And that little explanation of how you two met, I can see it in your eyes. You _love _her!"

I stuttered as I tried to form a counter, but I sighed in defeat. "Fine, I admit…I do _like _Sarah." I said. "But…I don't know how she feels about me. I don't know if its real love, or just something like a brother-sister kinda thing. I don't want to ruin our friendship just because of that."

"Your afraid of being rejected." Matthew said, lying down in his bed. "Your afraid she will say no." I just nodded my response. "Jordan, what do you think is worse?" He said. "Knowing that she rejected you, and still be friends…or living forever not knowing that answer." Matthew was silent for a few minutes.

"Jordan, here is my advice to you." He said. "Find out for yourself. Find out how she really feels about you…before it's too late…before you can never ask her how she feels."

I turned my head towards my brother, but he had already fallen asleep. _What do you mean? _I thought. _Matt…what's happened to you since Junius 7?_

_Archangel_, Cafeteria hallway.

Chris had slouched back to the cafeteria to see his friends, but he stopped when he saw Flay, sitting, chatting with Sai and Mirialla.

"_She's the most beautiful thing in the world", _Chris thought,_ "But just because my genes are different than others, she hates me. It's so unfair!" _Chris fell into a deep depression and then set off down the corridor, softly singing an old song to himself. He thought of the song's lyrics, and how they matched his feelings about Flay, wondering if he even had a chance with her.

_She's like the wind through my tree  
She rides the night next to me  
She leads me through the moonlight  
Only to burn me with the sun  
She's taken my heart  
But she doesn't know what she's done! _

_Feel her breath on my face  
Her body close to me!  
Can't look in her eyes  
She's out of my league!  
Just a fool to believe  
I have anything she needs  
She's like the wind... _

_I look in the mirror and all I see  
is a young old man with only a dream!  
Am I just fooling myself  
That she'll stop the pain  
Living without her  
I'd go insane! _

_Feel her breath on my face  
Her body close to me!  
Can't look in her eyes  
She's out of my league!  
Just a fool to believe  
I have anything she needs  
She's like the wind... _

_Feel your breath on my face  
Your body close to me!  
Can't look in your eyes  
You're out of my league! _

_Just a fool to believe  
She's like the wind.  
Just a fool to believe  
She's like the wind.  
Just a fool to believe  
She's like the wind.  
Just a fool to believe  
She's like the wind_

By the time Chris stopped singing, tears were silently leaking out down his face.

"It hurts, doesn't it kid?" a gentle voice said. Chris looked up, to see Sebastian just walking out of his quarters, now once again in Earth Forces volunteer blue.

"It's so unfair," Kira said, sniffling.

"You just don't like her, you love her…bad" said Sebastian, to which Chris just nodded, "Let me show you a few of the various treasures I've accumulated over the years. Maybe it will help take your mind off Flay, even if it's just for a while." Sebastian walked back into his room

"Sure, why not?" Chris said, wiping his tears away and following the elder Coordinator inside. Laid out on the bed were the unpacked contents of Sebastian's duffle bag.

Chris's eyes widened when he saw what appeared to be two ZAFT uniforms. One was in pale whitish gray, trimmed in gold, the other in top gun red.

"Two?" Chris asked, "Why two uniforms?"

"Well, there's a bit of a story behind that my young friend. That uniform" Sebastian indicated to the red one, "Is the standard duty uniform for all ZAFT top gun pilots. Commanders normally wear white, but there are a few guys, myself included, who like to stick to their roots, and continue to wear red."

"So what about the gray one?" Chris asked.

"That uniform is a direct result of the Storm Wolves' success at Jachin. The battle was being broadcast for everyone in the PLANTs, and my team was kicking the most ass. We were fighting…like a pack of wolves. We came back as heroes, and the guys in ZAFT public relations wanted to milk it for all it was worth. The entire team was given distinct uniforms in what they dubbed "Storm Wolf Gray", my uniform was a little more ornate, being that I was the commander. But to be honest, the uniform was a little showy for my tastes, so I kept it for special occasions as my dress uniform, while I continued to wear my red one the rest of the time. That way I could still be seen as the commander. I hope to wear that uniform again someday, but then everything changed."

"Why did you leave?" asked Chris.

"Let me give you the abridged version, there are those in ZAFT who aren't satisfied with simply gaining independence from Earth. They wanted nothing less than the total destruction of all Naturals. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time when I learned about this, and they tried to kill me for it. That's why I came to Heliopolis, I was hiding. Don't ask me anymore Chris. It's something I really like to avoid. Okay?"

"Okay, I understand" Chris said, "So why don't you show me what else you have?"

"Gladly" said Sebastian, picking up a small, ornate dagger, "This has quite a bit of history, Chris. This dagger is over 5,000 years old. It was used by the high priests of the _original_ Heliopolis, in ceremonies to worship the sun god Ra. It came into my family almost 150 years ago when one of my ancestors found it on an archeological dig at Giza, and brought to the PLANTs by my great-grandfather."

"Whoa," said Chris, genuinely impressed.

"We're not done yet, let me direct you to the three pictures on the table. Those hold much significance to me. The first picture is of my entire family. Look at the date and time" Sebastian said.

"February 14th, C.E 70, 8:03 AM?" Chris said looking to Sebastian, who merely nodded.

"That picture was taken exactly one hour before the nuke strike reduced Junius Seven to scrap. I lost my entire family in the strike. They had come from all over the PLANTs to gather at my grandparents' house on Junius for our 5 year reunion, Everyone was so happy, it was such a great time for us all." Sebastian swallowed hard.

"I want to say I'm sorry, but it wouldn't be doing you justice…I should know."

"It's okay bro." Sebastian said, knowing that Chris and his sister lost their own Parents on that faitful day. "The next picture is of me and my team, and it was taken at my award ceremony for my Order of the Nebula" Sebastian said with a note of pride.

"So these are the Storm Wolves?" Chris asked, observing the 13 men and women dressed in the distinctive gray uniforms clustered around their commander, also in gray.

"Yeah, that's them, except for the two on either side of me. The one in red is Nicol Amalfi, probably my best friend in the entire world. He's one of the kindest, sweetest guys I know, and it was such a shock when I found out that he had chosen to join ZAFT. He wanted to defend his homeland, like I did."

"What about the girl? You two look pretty close" Chris said, trying to get a little payback for Sebastian's earlier teasing.

"I'm surprised you don't know who that is, but she is alittle younger in this photo that she is now. That is Lacus Clyne, She was the one who awarded me the Order of the Nebula. I believe your sister, and Sarah are massive fangirls of hers."

"Lacus Clyne?" Chris said, letting the name register in his mind for a few seconds, "Lacus Clyne, the pop star? Lacus Clyne, the Pink Princess of the PLANTs? Lacus Clyne, as in the daughter of Chairman Siegel Clyne? Lacus Clyne as in the girl who's albums were scattered across Liz's room?"

"One and the same, Chris, but you're missing one. Lacus Clyne, my fiancé."

"YOUR FIANCE!" Chris exploded.

"Keep it down, yes she's my fiancé. If you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you kept that under wraps", hissed Sebastian. "Especially with your Sister and Sarah here! "

"How did that happen?" said Chris.

"That's a story for another time. Let's get back to the treasures. This is my handgun. Not much to say about it. Forty-five caliber HK USP Tactical, my grandfather got it from somewhere, I really don't know, and passed down to me. It's old, but well taken care of. Still shoots as good as the day it was bought. Rarely leaves my side, but besides that, it's not that impressive."

"I agree, I'm really not into guns" Chris said.

"I'm not fond of them myself, but it's kind of a necessary evil for me, especially since I've been on the run."

"What about this certificate?" Chris said.

"That goes with _this_," Sebastian said pulling the Order of the Nebula medallion from his uniform jacket. "That is the citation that shows the date I received the Order, and it also proclaims me as ZAFT's 'Supreme Ace'. It's one of my three most precious treasures, I always have it with me, unless if I'm sleeping or showering. My second most precious treasure is this. My wolf head katana. I knew a man who was descended from a long line of master sword smiths. I asked him to fashion this sword for me, and to be sure that the handle was carved in the image of a wolf, my favorite animal. It has great value to me."

"Okay, so what's your greatest treasure? The medallion is third, the sword is second, what could be more important?" Chris said.

"Lacus" Sebastian said simply, "She's my reason for living. Lacus is the reason I fight. Anytime I was in doubt, she reassured and comforted me. I would give up my life a thousand times over to protect her, and that's not even a promise, it's a guarantee."

"Thanks Sebastian. Thanks for sharing all this with me. I feel a lot better, maybe Flay will see that not all Coordinators are bad" said Chris.

"I never said she couldn't change, I just said that it wouldn't happen with a snap of the fingers. And I know from experience, that fortune can change before you can blink." The two pilots headed down the hall toward the bridge with raised spirits.

_With Sarah_

Sarah finished putting on her pink earth forces uniform about the same time as Liz did. "Why do I have the impression that the E.A are all sexists?" Sarah said as she looked at herself in the Mirror. "Pink suit, tiny mini-skirt, its like their asking for guys to drool over us."

Liz lauphed at her friends statement. "True." She said. "But, I just ignore it. Besides, that new look of yours may be what you need for Jordan to notice you!"

Sarah blushed at her statement. "L-Liz!" she said. "You said not to talk about that!"

"Sarah, you cant hide those feelings for Jordan for long." She said. "You told me yourself you _Liked _Jordan. And this is finally your chance!"

Sarah just shook her head. "I-I cant just _ask _him!" she said. "What if he likes Scout more than me?"

Liz just sighed. "Sarah, are you gonna live your whole life not knowing, or would you rather like to know how he feels, regardless of how he answers?"

Sarah stuttered. "I-Its more complicated than that." She said.

Liz just sighed again. "Is it?" she asked as she headed for the door. "Sarah, this Is a golden opportunity to find out Jordan's feelings about you. And honestly, in my opinion, you should take it." With that, Liz left Sarah to her thought.

_**Meanwhile**_

_**Onboard the Hades**_

"Damnit…Damnit…" Zar said, as he continued to bang his head on the wall. Now more slowly. Finally, he came to a stop.

"Sir…are you alright?" Dren asked.

Zar sat into his chair. "I'm…Fine." He said.

"Ok." Dren said. "So…what should we do?"

Zar straightened up in his chair. "Have Sayla return to the ship, are launch spy drones to observe the situation." He said. "Lets see how Rau deals with this…for now."

Miguel: …So, fanfiction is pretty much writing out something that happened, only you change it…so that it doesn't happen?

117Jorn: Pretty much.

Orlo: …so, how are we different from the original?

117Jorn: Ok, here is the difference. There was no Storm wolf, there was no Dragon of Endymion, there was no Grizzley, Lighting, Predator, Dragon, Zephyre, Raven, Shadow Scythe, or Katana or their respected pilots…Oh, and Kira was a guy in the real one.

Orlo and Miguel: WHAT?

117Jorn: no, seriously. Its true, in both the Manga, and the Anime Kira's a guy.

Miguel: But…that's…what is wrong with…UH!

Orlo: How could you do that?

117Jorn: Ok, first of: That was DragonknightRyu's idea first. Not mine. And second, have you _seen _all that crappy fan-art out there?

Miguel: What do you mean?

117Jorn: …get a computer, go on Google, and type in "KiraxAthrun" and be sure to turn the filter off.

Orlo: Ok. *gets on Computer* Ok Google, filter off…KiraxAthrun…Oh my GOD! Uhh, how…Oh my GOD!

117Jorn: What? What is it-SWEET JUMPING MOBILE SUITS! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?


	7. Phase 5: Phase shift down

Miguel: Uhh, thank god for that mental bleach Dragonknightryu gave you.

117Jorn: Ya I know. I really owe him for that one.

Dragonknightryu: My pleasure!

117Jorn: Wait, Ryu what are you doing here?

Dragonknightryu: Oh, well ya know. Got board, thought I'd hang out here for a while.

117Jorn: Don't you think you should be working on one of your fanfics?

Dragonknightryu: I've got all of the time in the world, Jorn. Don't worry, Path to redemption will be updated soon.

117Jorn: It better be! If you cant update path to redemption, it makes my job on Miracle and Song of Redemption harder!

Migiel: So…you're the guy that made Path to redemption?

Dragonknightryu: Yup.

Miguel: …what the hell were you thinking?

Dragonknightryu: …uh…can you refrase the question?

Miguel: WHY did you make kira a GIRL?

Dragonknightryu: Oh _that. _Simple. One dark, and rainy day, curiosity got the better of my, and I checked out what this whole Yaoi thing is…lets just say I almost ran out of mental bleach. *shudders* but as mentally scaring that was, it gave me an idea. What if I took out the Yaoi factor, and made kira and/or athrun in a female? The result was Path to redemption. Of course, I am not the first to try this. There are quite a few before me that made fem-kira stories and they worked flawlessly so I thought…why not?

Miguel: ok, I guess that makes sense.

117Jorn: I always did wonder how came about doing that. Anyways, here is the next chapter. Please enjoy!

Orlo: wait, I didn't get any lines!

117Jorn, Miguel, Dragonknightryu: NO ONE CARES!

_Explosions flashed through the sky as a 16-year old Ryu weaved through the endless tide of GINNs that ZAFT had sent out to destroy the base at Endymion. Raising his rifle Ryu started returning fire at the one's targeting him and his squad. '_They must really fear the capabilities of the Moebius Zero if they sent three of their fleets to wipe the Zero corps base._' He thought to himself as he continued to punch through the GINNs that were attacking the base "Have they made contact with Headquarters yet?" he asked his squad mate and close friend Mu la Flagga._

_"_Not yet no,_" Mu stated as his Zero's Gunbarrels destroyed a GINN that got too close to the third member of their squad Mickey Johansson who had a silver coloured Zero "_For some reason We can't get through._"_

_"_There is some kind of interference with our long range communications_" Kyle Flynn a pilot of a dark blue Zero speculated "_ZAFT must be breaking out some new toys._"_

_"_I hate it when they do that._" Mickey complained as he returned the favour by disabling a GINN that was on Mu's tail._

_"_I hear that_" Yuna Falcon sighed, she was a pilot of a white Zero with blood red stripes "_I just hope that this damn war would end already._" Flipping her Zero she fired her rail guns blasting away a GINN that tried to take her from behind._

_"Got that straight," Ryu said as his bayonet pierced a cockpit of a GINN before throwing it at a second GINN as it exploded taking said GINN with it "Kyle any idea's on where the interference is originating from?"_

_"_Just give me a sec,_" Kyle responded as he rolled away from a series of shots from a GINN "_Got it, it's at the center of the fleet though._"_

_"_Son of a bitch._" Yuna cursed, she was officially the squad commander but most of the time someone else would lead the squad if they had more experience in the terrain they were fighting in "_Any ideas?_"_

_"_Don't tell me your thinking of charging straight in Commander._" Mickey pleaded in alarm_

_"_Alright then, I won't tell you, I'll order you to._" Yuna retorted seriously "_Ryu you take point and show'em just how good that suit of your is._"_

_"Yes ma'am," Ryu confirmed with a grin as he drew out his katana and took the point of the V formation the squad took up "Besides Mickey don't you remember our motto?"_

_At once the entire squad chanted "_Make the Impossible Possible_." As thy retracted their Gunbarrels and accelerated to the ZAFT fleet._

_As they charged forward the other Zero pilots seeing the legendary Falcon Squad started taking the fight to the enemies rallied around them and joined them in a charge that would be remembered for ages to come. Leading the pack Ryu quickly activated what made the ZGMF-X990 Codename: X so dangerous "GO FANGS" he shouted as the prototype DRAGOON system on his mobile suit activated launching six dagger-like objects from the container on the X's waist and circle around him before moving to his will and started punching through the armor of the GINNs disabling some and destroying others as his sniper-like accuracy pick off many who approached him and his katana finished off anyone lucky enough to get close to him as the Zero's behind him opened up with their own weapons raining bullets upon the ZAFT fleet._

_Unfortunately as the battle wore on more and more of the Zero's started to fall, even with the advantage of their wired Gunbarrels and each pilots spatial awareness, their small contingent were no match for the endless tide that was the ZAFT fleet. Mickey swerved out of the way of rifle fire of one only to be met by the heavy sword of another "_Mickey!_" Kyle yelled as his long time friend went down in flames "You BASTARDS!" With that as his war cry Kyle plunged head first into the swarm of GINN descending upon them tearing through them until one of the GINNs shot through his reactor blowing the armor up taking Kyle and two GINNs unfortunate enough to be too close with it._

_"God Dammit, Kyle!" Ryu yelled in desperation as his Fangs tore the offending mobile suit apart while his rifle shot through a cockpit of another and his thrown Katana pierced yet another one. "Mu, Yuna, Form up!"_

_Following his advice the other two remaining squad members flew up beside him as they continued to punch their way through the screen of GINNs blocking them from their objective. After finally punching through the trio started weaving through the anti air fire from the Battle ships in the main fleet as they tried to shoot down the remaining members of Falcon Squad._

_Suddenly, an earie timber wolf howl erupted across the comm channels. A familure howl for the members of Falcon team. "_are you fucking kidding me?_" Ryu said. "Don't worry guys." Mu said. "I got this one."_

"_You sure, Mu?" Ryu asked._

"_Positive, this wont take long." Mu's Orange Zero then headed towards a green GINN, and the Storm wolf and Hawk played a deadly dance against each other to settle the score._

_"_Ryu,_" Yuna whispered as he flipped around and emptied his final clip into a GINN pursuing them "_Take care of yourself and keep moving forward like I know you can and always remember, I love you._"_

_"Yuna?" Ryu asked in confusion as he turned around only to see Yuna's red stripped white Zero Kamikaze their target ship right where the engine would be causing a chain reaction blowing the ship up. "YUNA!" he cried out his eyes widening in fear as he hoped beyond hope that he would see her Zero burst through the explosion like he had see many times before only to be damaged beyond what any bullet could hope to accomplish as he and Mu stared in horror. Even Sebastian was shocked at what had transpired._

_Ryu suddenly had a vision of a crystal the same color of his jade-green eyes spiralling through a black background before it shattered in a golden explosion of light causing a wave of clarity to wash over him and his eyes to morph to golden coloured with slitted draconic pupils, letting out a roar that many survivors would report to be draconic in nature Ryu charged the Shocked GINNs that surrounded them as Mu and Sebastian watched in utter awe._

"YUNA!" Ryu shouted as he jerked out of his dream shooting up in his bed completely drenched in cold sweat shaking as tears streaked his face.

"Ryu," Kira asked in concern moving over to his bed his shout having woken her up "What's wrong?"

Ryu suddenly pulled Kira closer to him surprising her slightly before she wrapped her arms around Ryu reassuringly and started rubbing his back as sobs racked his body. They remained like this for awhile as Ryu calmed down and recovered from his dream "Thank you Kira." He whispered gratefully as he remained in her embrace.

"You're welcome Ryu," she whispered back "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was a dream about the battle of Endymion," he explained after a couple seconds of silence "That day my entire squad save Mu died. Mickey, always the whiner, but would always have your back no matter the situation, Kyle, the man who could pull off a Braveheart while hacking the ZAFT mainframe. Mu, the guy who made us laugh as he joked in the middle of the battle, I was the guy who made the insane plans and pulled it off, like hijacking a prototype ZAFT mobile suit as they showed it off during a demonstration to the upper echelon of the supreme council, or making a regular Moebius a weapon of mass destruction. Then, then there was our commander Yuna, she, she was brave, beautiful, smart, and like everyone else in the squad, slightly insane." He chuckled with Kira as he remembered his old squad "We had two mottos one was from Mu and our most known 'We make the impossible possible', than one from me 'those who abandon the mission are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are less than trash'. Yuna and I were in a relationship when Endymion happened," Ryu admitted to Kira as he pulled away slightly to look her in the eyes "She died when she rammed her Moebius Zero into the ZAFT flagship that was carrying a Jamming device that blocked off long-range communications." Closing his eyes he allowed a few tears to slip down his face in regret "That was not the worst part though, afterwards I, I went completely berserk, destroying anyone who got in my way, all of the Zero pilots save Mu died during that battle due to the ZAFT attack, and when I stepped out of the cockpit of my mobile suit Mu said that for the briefest of seconds, my eyes became draconic, and any survivor from ZAFT and Mu reported that just before I went berserk I let out a draconic roar that filled the airwaves, that alone caused me to earn the nickname Dragon."

Once he finished his story Ryu let out a massive sigh that was filled with sadness as he separated from Kira and looked down at the floor not meeting Kira's eyes "Ryu," Kira whispered gently as she placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to look up and meet her concern filled eyes "That must have been terrible for you, having to carry that."

Ryu smiled sadly at Kira "It is," he whispered hoarsely "Harder than you can imagine, I pray that I can redeem my own failures not only at Endymion but at Junius Seven as well. I've done a lot in that regard, like teaching you guys about mobile suit design so that you would not have to go through what I did," he gave a rueful snort "Look at well _that_ turned out though."

"Stop," Kira said sternly surprising Ryu "We chose to get in the cockpit of those Gundams. _It is_ _not your fault._"

Ryu smiled at Kira thankfully and gave a small chuckle "Yeah, I suppose it isn't," he admitted before he blinked and looked at Kira in confusion "Wait _Gundams?_"

Kira smiled sheepishly as she gave a small blush "An Acronym that I saw during the boot-up sequence." She explained. "Also, Jordan told me he made a model when he was a kid, and he called it a Gundam. His mother used it as a starting point for the external design for the G-Weapons. "

"Gundam," Ryu said as if testing out the word than grinned "Definitely sounds better than _G-weapon_."

Kira smiled brightly her boyfriend glad that he was smiling again "Thank you," she said before yawning "Now let's go back to sleep shall we?" she asked and made to stand up only to be stopped by Ryu.

"Mind staying with me for the rest of the night?" he asked softly looking at Kira with a plaintive look.

Kira smiled at sat back down before pushing Ryu down and crawled under the covers with him resting her head on his shoulder "Of course I don't mind Ryu." She said settling herself in and gave him a kiss on the lips "If it's you, than I would never mind."

Ryu blinked before smiling and kissed Kira back before pulling her close "Thank you," he whispered as they drifted off back to sleep "I love you."

"I love you too Ryu."

'_Are you watching Yuna?_' Ryu thought as he drifted off '_It hurts, but I'm doing as you asked and allowing myself to move forward, and I love you as well, Yuna._'

OoOoOo

_Vesalius, Bridge_

"The legged ship will go one of two ways," Rau announced as the Crueset Team stood around the briefing table on the bridge "They will either make a straight line for the moon to rendezvous with the 5th fleet, _or_ they will go for Artimis base and resupply there."

"Where do you believe they will go commander?" Nicol asked curiously.

"Normally I would say they would go to Artimis," Rau admitted with a frown "But with the Dragon aboard I cannot say for certain."

"Why is that?" Yuuka asked in confusion.

"He has an annoying habit of proving us wrong any chance he gets." Naleen stated in annoyance "I don't know if I will strangle the guy for causing us so much trouble or shake his hand for his genius, probably both."

"Hn." Jacques grunted in agreement as he eyed the map "They will most likely go to Artimis."

"Agreed," Rau said nodding his head "Let us wait and see what their move shall be."

OoOoOo

"Find anything yet?" Matthew called out from inside the Katana's Cockpit. "Nothing yet!" I replied as I surveyed the interior of the Katana's Engine.

Me and Matthew were continuing to work with the Katana and Shadowscythe. We still had no idea how our machine's energy batteries were still at 100%. We were really confused.

At first, neither of us didn't worry about it, seeing that we were protecting our friends at the time. But now that we got a chance to calm down a bit, Me and my Brother taken some time to check out the Katana's Engine.

So far…nothing. It looks like a normal Gundam power generator from what we've seen on the other machines. "Ok, well I'm lost." I said as I banged my head on the Katana. "I don't get it." Matthew said. "If its just another normal engine, why does it have infinite power?"

"Hell if I know." I said as I banged my head again. But that was when I saw it. "What the hell?" I asked."Jordan, what is it?" Matthew asked.

"Its some king of code box." I said. "it has a keyboard on it. Hang on a sec."

I pressed the "Enter" key, and then a set of letters appeared on the small screen. "PASSWORD:" it said. "Shit." I said. "It needs a password."

"Well, what do you think it is?" Matthew asked.

I started thinking of a Proper password. For a minute I thought about it, Then It hit me.

"No way its that easy." I muttered. "What?" Matthew asked.

I then typed into the Pad: "Gundam" I said as I typed the word. I clicked enter. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then suddenly, part of the engine…opened up. And then out came…something from the engine. And to be honest…I had no clue what it was.

"What the hell is that?" Matthew asked, who had gotten out of the cockpit to see.

It was attached to a pair of handle-like objects attached to the engine. It was Spherical in shape, the sides of the exterior were silver steel colored, but its very center had a glowing blue light. "What have we here?" I said. I then took a closer look at the strange object. I then noticed a set of Letters on the Silver part of the Object. "Advance…Reactor…Core?" I said as I read it out loud.

"Advance Reactor Core, eh?" Matthew repeated. "Well, whatever it is, this has to be what's causing the infinite energy for the Katana and Shadow Scythe."

"Deffinetly." I said. "But…what is it exactly?" I sighed. "Whatever, right now isn't the best time to go pocking around on it. I don't wanna mess with is further in fear of it not functioning properly. We'll ask Murdoch about it later. For now, lets just call it an A.R.C Reactor."

"Arc reactor, eh?" Matthew said. "First Gundams, now Arcs. What's next?"

OoOoOo

_Archangel, Ryu and Kira's room_

Ryu groaned as he woke up to an alarm clock going off causing the weight on his chest to shift in annoyance "God damn blasted machine." Kira groaned in annoyance as she slowly sat up with a large yawn and slapped the off button "Morning Ryu."

"Mornin'," Ryu greeted wearily as he sat up smiling at Kira as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek and chuckled "Nice hair."

Blinking Kira ran a hand through her hair and winced as it ran into tangles "Dammit, I hate bed head." She moaned as they climbed out of bed.

"Go and have a shower first Kira," Ryu said as he started stretching "I need to go through some exercises anyways."

Nodding Kira gathered her uniform and stepped into the bathroom as Ryu began to go through some Tai Chi katas to stretch his body before he started going through some of his more serious katas that he had pick up during his travels and his stint in the military, Kira walked out of the bathroom wearing the EA's female volunteer uniform but the shirt was the same blue that the strike had and was wearing a white miniskirt just as Ryu was going through a series of kicks that would have any regular guy wincing in pain with the fact that he was essentially doing splits making it very uncomfortable for those who weren't flexible enough.

"Wow," she breathed in amazement when he finished "That was amazing."

Ryu grinned at Kira's praise "Thanks, that one always did give me trouble," he admitted as he looked Kira over as she blushed in embarrassment "You look good Kira."

Still blushing Kira smiled at him "Thank you, now go have shower stinky." She ordered sternly causing him to chuckle sheepishly.

"Right, right, I'm going." He assured as he picked up his uniform and entered the bathroom.

After his shower Ryu stepped out wearing a modified volunteer uniform that had a shit similar to Mu's but dark green with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows with the Lieutenant bars on his chest and had the last three buttons undone along with black pants. Kira gave a whistle "You look nice." She commented as he gave a slow spin with a grin plastered on his face.

"Thank you," he said right before someone knocked on the door "Just a sec!"

Going over he opened the door to reveal Sarah, Liz and Chris wearing volunteer uniforms in the colors of their mobile suits (Chris-Shirt: Midnight blue with red edges, pants: white. Liz- Shirt: light blue, miniskirt: red. Sarah-Shirt: Light blue, Miniskirt: white) "Hey," Chris greeted as Ryu let them in "So you guys got your uniforms to huh?"

"Yeah," Ryu confirmed as he picked up his MP5 that he had thrown into the Dragon when he had jumped in and started taking it apart and cleaning it "And the captain in her infinite wisdom decided to put me in as second in command and mobile suit commander."

"Ouch," Liz commented with a wince of sympathy as Chris snorted "So what do we pilots need to do anyways?"

"Well for the most part I suggest you get to know your machine better while you help the maintenance crews maintain you mobile suits," Ryu suggested after a moment of thought as he continued to clean the gun in his hand "Which by the way I will head down and do myself after I check in with Captain Ramius, or you can see if they have a shooting range and learn how to fire at the very least a handgun in the off chance you get shot down. And then you could go to the exercise room and work out."

The trio nodded as Sarah, Chris and Liz left to go to the hanger leaving Kira and Ryu alone once more. After closing the door Kira walked up behind Ryu and wrapped her arms around his neck lightly and watched as he started putting his gun back together "How are you feeling?" she asked in concern.

"Better, definitely better," he reassured standing up and turned to face her wrapping his arms around her waist "Thank you for listening to me last night, I, I needed to get that off of my chest."

"Ryu, I will always listen to you if you need to talk," she reassured "I just don't want you to become a crotchy old war vet with a bitter chip on his shoulder." She added with a grin causing him to laugh.

"Yeah, that would be sad." Ryu agreed and kissed her firmly on the lips while running his hand through her hair while she pulled him in deeper into the kiss each forgetting their fears and worries, right up until the communications consol beeped making Ryu go off on a colorful cursing spree before he answered "Hisanaga, what is it?" he asked as blunt as ever.

"Captain Ramius and Commander La Flaga want you in the briefing room." Natarle answered shortly still agitated that he was a higher rank than her.

"Understood Ensign, thank for the warning." Ryu responded and cut the link missing the snort from Natarle "Right I gotta go, will you be alright?" he asked Kira in concern.

Kira only waved him off "I'll be fine Ryu," she reassured "I'll just go down to the hanger and help out with the Strike's maintenance."

Ryu smiled at her and kissed her once more before leaving the room and making his way to the briefing room to talk with Murrue and Mu.

OoOoOo

"I know we're in a critical situation," said Murrue. "But I have no intention of surrendering." Mu turned in his seat to look at Murrue curiously. "I refuse to hand over either this ship or the other G-weapons to ZAFT. We must get them safely to Atlantic Federation HQ, no matter what the risks are. Commander Connor recommended we head towards Artemis."

"Artemis…?" I said quietly, and somewhat doubtfully. "That's a Eurasian military satellite, right? The one with the umbrella shield?"

"Both the G weapons and this ship lack a recognition code acknowledged by our allies, right?" said Murrue. "The question remains: would Eurasia…?"

"I'm certainly aware," said Natarle, interrupting Murrue. "Of the fact that the _Archangel_ and the G weapons are both considered to be sensitive military secrets of the Atlantic Federation. However, should we set a course to the moon; you can't expect us to arrive there without encountering at least some resistance along the way. In addition, we left in a hurry and we weren't sufficiently supplied, which means were urgently in need of provisions."

"I realize that," said Murrue. "I have to say that even Eurasia will be sympathetic to our situation," said Natarle. "You've obviously never met Rear admiral Garcia." Ryu said. Almost spitting at the name of the Admiral. "Bad history?" Sebastian asked. "_Very _bad history between us." Ryu replied.

"As it stands, the most practical course of action would be to avoid confrontation as much as possible, and re-supply at Artemis, where we could also attempt to contact Lunar Headquarters." Sebastian stated.

"Artemis is it?" asked Mu. "I wonder if everything will go exactly as planned." "Hard to say," said Murrue. "But it does seem to be our only viable option right now. Prepare decoy," ordered Murrue. "As soon as the decoy has cleared the ship, we'll start the main engines and lay in a course directly to Artemis. We will then switch to inertial flight in order to avoid enemy detection. Now, level two battle stations. Reposition the ship as quickly as possible."

"A silent run until we reach the Artemis base," commented Mu. "It should take us about two hours," he estimated. "Now, it's up to luck." But then I spoke up. "Wait." I said. "That's a waste."

"What's a waste?" Sebastian asked. "Well," I said. "We're up against Rau La Cruset. A smart commander. He knows we'll either head for Artemis, or Lunar H.Q. But knowing him from what I've read, he'll probably think we're heading for Artemis anyway, due to it being a more well-defended station. And you said it yourself Sebastian. We'd have to be _very _lucky for a decoy to work here."

"Where are you getting at this?" Murrue asked, paying attention. I smiled. "Listen up." I said, now grinning. "I think that its gonna be inevitable for us to engage Zaft. So…why don't we strike first?" then explained my Plan in full to the officers. "You're Crazy." Sebastian stated. "…Unfortunately…" Ryu said, trailing off. "I like Crazy." Sebastian said, grinning.

OoOoOo

_Vesalius, Bridge, two hours later._

"Sir contact!" one of the bridge crew reported suddenly causing all present to snap to attention "Major heat source heading towards Artimis Sir!"

"So we were right," Rau mused "Follow them but keep an eye out for any traps."

"Yes sir!" the crew chanted as they leapt to their tasks.

"I want you all to get to the hanger and get ready to launch," Rau ordered the red coats "If you cannot capture the mobile suit than destroy it, we cannot allow the EA to get their hands on them."

Snapping salutes the red coats made their way to the hanger and piled into their mobile suits 'Kira,' Athrun thought as images from the last battle flashed through his mind 'Why are you doing this? Why do you fight against your own people?' He remembered when the Dragon stopped him from capturing Kira that time 'Is he the reason? Is he manipulating Kira to fight for the EA, no, that doesn't make sense, if he was truly loyal to the EA than he would not have attacked the peacekeeper force at Junius Seven, and would have remained afterwards. So why do they fight against their own kind?'

"_5 Minutes out, All suits prepare for launch._"

OoOoOo

_Gamow_, Hanger Bay

Nicol Amalfi uncomfortably eased into the pilot's seat of the GAT-X207 Blitz. A very small part of him was quite eager to test his new machine in battle, but the rest was absolutely terrified of facing a man he considered a brother on the battlefield, and he was still hoping there was method to his madness.

_Sebastian, I've known you too long, there's a reason why you joined the Earth Forces, at least…I hope there is._

During the briefing, Nicol had volunteered to confront Sebastian in the hopes of getting him to come back or barring that, find out what he was doing.

The four G-pilots had concurred that shooting to kill was last resort only, well three of the G-pilots felt that way, Yzak would have probably shot first and asked questions later, anyway. Although, Nicol knew that Yzak was no where near the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due's league.

Le Creuset's voice stirred Nicol from his thoughts.

_"Okay Nicol, you know what you have to do. Find out what you can from Commander Connor. Do not fire on the Predator unless there is no other option. I know he's your friend, but I expect you to follow orders"_

"Yes sir, I understand, but that doesn't mean I have to like it" Nicol replied, trying to keep his voice from cracking. He then took a deep breath, focusing on the mediation techniques that Sebastian taught him.

_I can't get distracted out there, even if Sebastian is my best friend, I still have my duty to ZAFT, and the PLANTs."_

"Nicol Amalfi, Blitz, LAUNCHING!"The Blitz lined up on the catapult, the lights went green, and the machine shot out into space.

OoOoOo

Ryu grinned ferally as he watched the mobile suits launch from the pursuing ship and made their way to the Heat Rocket they had launched earlier towards Artimis. "Alright you guys, get ready to launch, hit'em fast hit'em hard." He said over the radio alerting the others as he settled in and moved his suit to the catapult and watched as a 'Scylla' High Energy Cannon Shield was equipped to his suit. He was now in his flight suit that was mostly black with a green chest and shoulders while Chris wore a Mostly Midnight blue with white chest and shoulders, Liz wore a light blue with red chest and shoulders, Sarah is was Dark blue, with lighter blue shoulders and chest, Matthew's was Black with a red chest and gold shoulders, and Jordan's was primary white with red chest and shoulders. (Kira wears the same one as the anime.)

Taking several Deep breaths he looked over the vid screens at the rookie pilots, Sarah, Liz and Chris were fidgety and were looking a little green at the prospect of having to kill again, they had mostly dealt with it last night when they had realized what they had done, thankfully Mu had been nearby and helped them get over it. Jordan and his Brother Matthew were probably in the best condition. Though he could see Jordan taking a deep breath every now and then, he was relatively calm.

Kira was looking apprehensive and was biting her lip anxiously as the 'Aile' pack was mounted onto the Strike, and the Buster pack was mounted on the Katana. Switching to a private channel he opened it with Kira "Are you okay?" he asked in concern as he looked at her over the video screen "You look a little pale."

"Is this channel secure?" Kira asked nervously after getting a nod from Ryu she continued "I know the pilot of the Aegis," she admitted "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I didn't want to believe it at first."

"Kira, it's alright," Ryu soothed wishing he could hold her right now "If you want you can sit this fight out and I can disable and capture the Aegis."

"No, no," Kira refused "That's alright, this is something that I've got to do. Thank you for offering though."

Ryu nodded "Just let me know if you need help Kira, I'll come running." He swore making Kira smile gratefully.

"Thank you." She whispered before switching back to the squad link.

"_Lieutenant La Flaga, are you ready to return to the hunt?_" Sebastian said.

"_Ready and willing, the Hawk of Endymion, the Dragon of Endymion, and the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due, unexpected hunting partners huh?_" Mu said with a laugh.

"_They always say fortune makes strange bedfellows. I personally couldn't ask for better hunting partners. Let's get this done._"

"_Trap is set, all units you are clear for launch._" Mir's voice came through the radio, turns out that after Natarle had talked to Ryu their friends had showed up at the bridge asking if they could volunteer and assist in some way.

"Understood." He said. The Katana was the first to the Catapult.

"Jordan Takeo, Katana Gundam, Lets Rock and Roll!" With that the Katana took off. Ryu smirked. _Gundam. _He thought, _it'll spread like a wildfire now. _

"Kira Yamato, Strike Gundam, Lets do it!"

"Chris Dante, Raven Gundam, Launching!"

"Liz Dante, Zephyre Gundam, Lets go!"

"Sarah Lenix, Slash Gundam, Taking off!"

"Sebastian Connor, Predator Gundam, Moving out!"

_What I tell ya. _Ryu thought as he stepped forward. "Ryu Hisanaga, Dragon Gundam, Engaging the Enemy!"

"Mu la Flagga, Moebius Zero Custom, Launching!" While the techs were repairing the Zero they had found a Gunbarrels Striker pack and decided to repurpose it so that Mu could do more damage to his opponents even with their phase shift.

_With Athrun_

"_Where the Hell are they!_" Yzak raged as they group of 6 Gundams and two GINNs drifted through an asteroid field and had found out that the heat source had disappeared completely surprising everyone completely.

"_Alright it's obvious that it was a decoy so everyone back to the-_" Naleen was cut off when a massive blast of blue-red energy blasted through the group narrowly missing the Lightning surprising the entire group. Then suddenly a second blast of energy narrowly missed the Grizzly.

They snapped out of it when several heat sources appeared on their radars placing the suits _behind_ them. "_Dammit Scatter!_" Naleen ordered with everyone quickly complying as the Dragon went into sniper mode and started exchanging fire with the Lightning drawing it further into the asteroid field with Sarah supporting him while Mu charged straight at Naleen and Jacques forcing their attention onto him while Chris and Liz faced off against Yzak and Dearka, Lev focused his attention with the Katana and Shadow Scythe leaving Kira and Sebastian against Athrun and Nicol.

"Okay, boys, show me what you've got" said Sebastian, "I wish it didn't it have to be this way, but I don't have a choice."

"Sebastian, Sebastian Connor is that you?" a voice over the radio came, a voice that Sebastian had never thought he would hear again. A sinister looking black and red mobile suit stopped right in front of the Predator.

"Nicol Amalfi? What the _hell_ are you doing in that thing!" Sebastian roared.

"Trying to talk some sense into you for one!" Nicol said.

"You don't say?" said Sebastian, "What makes you think you I needed some sense talked into me?" Noticing that Nicol was flying the X207 Blitz.

"Your disappearance five months ago, the fact you were on Heliopolis piloting an Earth Alliance machine, the fact that you killed Miguel, Olor, and Patterson? They were your comrades, Sebastian! How could you do it? How could you betray us?" Nicol said, close to tears.

"I had my reasons bro, but I can't reveal them right now. Although I will ask you this…Have they completed GENESIS?" Sebastian said the last part so quietly. It was a whisper on a breeze.

"Genesis? What…You're not making any sense, Sebastian" Nicol said, more confused than ever.

"So they haven't completed it. Nicol, listen to me very closely, once you get back home, ask about it, it will change your opinion of what you should be fighting for", said Sebastian.

While this was going on between Blitz and Predator, the Strike and Aegis had finally come face-to-face. Athrun was the first to make his move, hailing the Strike.

"Kira! Stop this nonsense, you're only being used can't you see that?"

"I am _not_ being used Athrun," Kira stated firmly "I had a choice and I chose the path that would allow me to protect my friends!" putting away her rifle Kira drew out her beam saber and clashed with Athrun "Why can't _you_ see that and just _leave us alone!_"

"But Kira-"

"But nothing Athrun, I know that you lost your mom at Junius Seven, but don't blame an entire race for the actions of a select few!"

"Dammit Kira, they are to blame for everything, can't you see that? They started this war, they used nukes first."

"Your sounding like a kid in the schoolyard after a fight!" Kira accused sharply as she ducked under a slash and slammed her shield into the torso of the Aegis throwing it back "Yes the EA started it, but they were being manipulated by Blue Cosmos!"

Athrun only grimaced as he drew out his beam rifle and squared off against his oldest friend.

_With Mu_

"Man I can see why Ryu had such a hard time against you guys." Mu commented as he swerved around a slash from Jacques and launched a rail blast at Naleen forcing her to give up her shot in favor of _not_ getting shot.

"_Coming from the Dragons old teammate that`s high praise indeed._" Naleen retorted as she fired a shot attempting to destroy one of the gunbarrels but missed as Mu skillfully maneuvered them out of the way and fire several beams at Jacques who was attempting to cut another gunbarrel in half only for him to dodge.

"This is going to take awhile isn't it." Mu complained as Naleen laughed while Jacques snorted.

_With Yzak and Dearka_

Yzak snarled as the Raven skillfully avoided his rifle fire while forcing Yzak to dodge the Raven's rail cannons or risk getting damaged or destroyed when Dearka intervened launching a volley of missiles forcing the Raven to go into mobile armor mode to dodge the missile, unfortunately Dearka was unable to follow up due to the Zephyr blasting towards him in jet mode guns blazing forcing Dearka to dodge or be ripped to shreds by the amount of missiles that the suit launched "What the hell are they packing in those suits?" Dearka asked plaintively.

"Don't know, Don't care, I just want them to DIE!" Yzak shout in rage as he started fire multiple time but his rage _really_ affected his accuracy allowing the Raven to transform back into Suit mode and start attacking the Duel close range with his beam saber, unfortunately, that was a mistake as the Duel, as its name suggests is meant for Close-Combat, and there is a reason _why_ Yzak was chosen for the Duel, other than being a git, and that was his _much_ higher than average close combat scores. So using that natural gift he ducked under the Raven's swing and retaliated with a massive kick to the gut sending it tumbling back while Yzak drew out his beam saber and prepared for close combat with the recovering Raven.

Dearka cursed his luck as the Zephyr was _not_ a good match up for him with its higher maneuverability and the pilot definitely no slouch as they kept going in close forcing the Buster onto the defensive nearly the entire fight with his only main offence being his missiles and his 94mm high energy rifle, both being out stripped by the Zephyr's and the pilots abilities while the Zephyr was raining destruction with its missiles, beam rifle and rail guns '_Sometimes I hate my job._'

_With Jordan_

I let loose with the Katana's Buster pack's armaments against the Grizzley. Firing the 75mm double-beam Gatling cannon in one hand, and the 350mm gun launcher in the other. Though many of my rounds hit, the enemy suit wasn't called the Grizzly for nothing. Its armor was way more durable than Phase shift.

"How many shots is it gonna tale to bring you down!" I shouted as I holstered the Gatling cannon, and brought out my 94mm high energy rifle.

"_He, more than what you've probably got._" The Grizzly pilot replied as he fired his 125mm beam cannons. Witch I avoided a hit from. "_By the way, you seem awfully young to be piloting that mobile suit, ya know?_"

I fired a barrage of Micro missiles at the Grizzly as I lauphed. "Well, its not like I _wanted _to fight." I said. "You can blame that Murderer Kane Hellfury for that one." The Grizzly shot my missile with his Iglusiadie's and paused for just a moment before resuming combat. "_What?_" He asked.

"During the attack, Kane personally killed my mother and father without hesitation." I replied. "They were just workers for morgenrotte. And I'm pretty sure he said 'Pathetic Naturals' over the corpse of my mother."

The Grizzly was about to fire his 115 Ram cannon before he paused again. "_If that's true, how are you still alive?_" he asked as he resumed combat, firing his Ram Cannon, but I evaded. "_Kane has a nack of not leaving anyone behind when he enters his 'I'll kill all Naturals' state._"

I smiled as I drew my Katana swords and sped forwards. "You can thank my Brother for that one." I said. "You know him as Matthew Takeo."

He activated his beam claws and closed the distance. Out weapons met as sparks flew between my swords and his beams.

"_Wait, your Matthew's little Brother?_" The pilot asked. "_The same one he always seems to talk about?_"

I nodded. "Yes." I said as I kicked the Grizzly away. "If Matthew didn't intervene, I'd probably be dead right now."

"_Say…where is Matthew anyways?_" The Grizzly pilot asked as he regained his balance after my kick.

"3…2…1…now!" I shouted. Suddenly, the Shadow Scythe De-activated its Mirage Colloid and appeared right behind the Grizzly with his beam Scythe raised. The Grizzly pilot saw this and brought his beam claws up to parry the scythe in time.

"_Sup, Lev. How ya doing?_" Matthew's voice came up on the Radio. "_I see you've met my Brother._"

"_That I have matt._" The Grizzly pilot, now confirmed as 'Lev' said. "_I can already see the similarity. And I now fully understand why you did what you did. But don't think I'll be going easy on you two now._"

Matthew smiled. "_I wouldn't even dream of it, old friend._" He said.

_With Ryu and Sarah_

Sarah fired her beam rifle at the lightning as it twirls past her and Ryu's line of fire. "Damn, how fast is that thing?" Sarah complained.

"I don't know, just keep shooting ahead of it!" Ryu said.

_With Sebastian and Nicole_

"Sebastian, please tell me that there's more to this. I can't believe that you would willingly leave us like that" Nicol pleaded.

"There's more going on than you know little brother, but I can't tell you right now" Sebastian said softly, "ZAFT has a dark secret, one that not even I should have been aware of. They plan to commit genocide, and I will not be a part of that!"

"Sebastian, I'm sorry. I have to do my duty." And Blitz drew a beam saber.

"Then so do I" said Sebastian. Predator mimicking the action. Predator and Blitz charged each other, beam sabers locking.

"I'll admit Nicol! You're a credit to that red uniform! But you of all people should know that I'm still on a higher level!" Sebastian said, retreating backward.

"Yeah? that's not going to stop me!" Nicol said, charging after him.

_With Kira_

Kira was starting to get tired of this argument that continued throughout the entire fight with Athrun, she could understand why he joined ZAFT after his mother's death, but she couldn't understand the she was defending her friends, and when they reached the 5th fleet she would leave with said friends. Checking her power gauge she began to panic '_I'm nearly empty!_' she thought beginning to breathe quicker. '_Gotta get back to the Archangel._' Problem with that though the Archangel was too far away and with having to dodge Athrun's shots along with pushing her thrusters to their limits Kira's power quickly cut out and she was scooped up by Aegis in mobile armor mode "Dammit Athrun let me GO!"

"No! I'm doing this for your own good Kira, we ARE going to ZAFT."

"I don't _want_ to go to ZAFT Athrun, I am trying to go _HOME._"

"The plants are the home to all coordinators Kira."

"Shut the fuck up, that is not my home, my home is ORB!" Kira started crying as her fear built up more and more of being unable to protect her friends, Being separated from Ryu, unable to see him smile again, to hear his laugh and his jokes, his advice, or fell his soothing presence. Hitting a pre-prepared radio sequence she set up a direct short bust communication with the Dragon "Ryu, please help me, I-I need you Ryu!" she whimpered.

_With Ryu_

Ryu and Sarah had been maneuvering through the asteroid field ambushing the Lightning that followed them in causing havoc and panic when he received Kira's message "_Ryu, please help me, I-I need you Ryu!_" Instantly he froze the Lightning nervously waiting for something to happen, Sarah too was wonder what Ryu would do, Ryu experienced the same vision as the one from Endymion a Jade Crystal spun through his mind before exploding in a golden light making his eyes become draconic once more as absolute calm washed over him. Then he roared.

_Yuuka_

Yuuka froze as she heard the roar that emanated from the Dragon, She didn't even have the time to blink as the Dragon disappeared into the Asteroid field at speeds where a clip would kill you leaving Sarah and Yuuka as very scared pilots.

_Mu, Jacques, Naleen_

"_There is the proof that the gods hate me._" Naleen moaned as she began shacking in fear with Jacques fairing no better than his counterpart wishing he at least had the galaxy between them and the awoken Dragon while Mu was beginning to worry about a repeat of Endymion.

"Don't you dare be dead kid, he needs you more than you know."

_Jordan, Matthew, Lev_

".SHIT!" I shouted after the roar had subsided. "I didn't think he could get _that _pissed off!"

"_Jordan…was that Ryu?_" Matt asked.

"You bet your ass it was him." I said as I watched Ryu make a Bee-line towards the Strike and Aegis. "I feel sorry for the pilot of the Aegis right now."

"_Lev, just giving you a recomindation, but I think you should retreat now._" Matthew said.

"_Ya, I think I should too._" Lev said. "_I'd say I hope I'd never have to fight you again…but lets face it, its enevitible._"

I lauphed. "Probobly." I said. "But when we do fight again, I hope we all survive."

"_As do I._" Said Lev as his mobile suit retreated, not before giving me and Matthew a quick salute.

_Sebastian and Nicole_

Sebastian was frozen in place after Ryu roared. _Not even after all this time…that roar sends shivers down my spine. _He thought to himself.

"Looks like this round is ours, Nicol." Sebastian said once he got out of the shock of the roar.

"I guess you're right, Sebastian. I hope we don't have to meet again for a very long time" Nicol said, secretly relieved.

_Yzak, Dearka, Liz, Chris_

"What the hell was THAT!" Yzak shouted in shock as they witnessed the Dragon tearing past them at high speeds heading towards the Aegis "Dearka he's heading for Athrun we have to stop him!"

"_Stop him?_" the Raven's pilot asked mockingly "_You'll have to go through us first._"

_Athrun, Kira, Ryu_

Athrun gasped in shock when he heard the roar that made his commander shiver in fear and blanched when he saw the Dragon appear in front of of him his sword positioned to cleave the Aegis apart and only a sudden turn saved him from being skewered, but he had to release the Strike as well.

"_Get to the Archangel, Kira!_" he heard the pilot shout to Kira over the radio.

"_R-right._" She whispered before clearing the area as fast as she could receiving some help from Mu who was left alone as Naleen and Jacques did _**not**_ want to cross Ryu right then.

Athrun would have gone after them but was currently trying to survive the continual assault from a very angry Endymion Dragon as he spared no expense ripping the Aegis to pieces joint by joint until the torso and the head remained with a terrified Athrun helpless at Ryu's mercy "_Be thankful for your friendship with Kira,_" the Dragon hissed "_The only reason I will not kill you for what you did is because it would break Kira's Heart, so I suggest you move along._"

Turning the suit around the Dragon began to leave the field of battle "Why, Why do you care so much about Kira, your just using her!" Athrun cried out Causing the Dragon to freeze.

"_Using her, USING HER,_" Ryu roared "_If it was up to me than she would not even be in that mobile suit to begin with! But then you bastards had to go and attack Heliopolis instead of waiting for them to leave and Ambushing them! That is why she in the cockpit, not because someone is manipulating her! So I highly suggest you SHUT THE FUCK UP!_ _And the reason I care is because I love her, I am her guardian as she is mine."_ With that said he turned back to the Archangel and blasted away as Vesalius launched its retreat flares from a safe distance.

_With Jordan and Matthew_

When the enemy machines retreated, I sighed a huge sigh of relief. _Finally. _I thought. _Almost didn't get out of there. _"Jordan, you alright?" Matthew asked. "I'm Fine, matt." I said. "Just alittle shaken up." Matthew chuckled. "It happens to everyone in their first battle." He said. "You'll get use to it."

"Warning! New enemies incoming!" Romeo yelled. "What?" Lieutenant Ramius asked. "We have four High-speed bogies inbound!"

GINN

Grudego team. 8th Zaft Space division. 8th Tactical Mobile suit squadron.

"Gurdego three, to Grudego lead. You seeing what I'm seeing?" Asked James Kessel, one of Bernard Grudego's wingmen. "Grudego lead to Grudego 3. Ya." Captain Grudego said. "Seven Mobile suits. The didn't even loss one since we got here." That sent a small, very small shiver down everyone's spine. The La Cruset team was said to be one of the best. Not much could explain why they could have been defeated by these new earth mobile suits. "Looks like Rau's boys are slacking off." Grudego two, Kent Rosser said. "Don't underestimate them, Kent." Lucy quiller, Grudego four said. "They may be civilians, but they are still coordinators." "Cut the chatter." Bernard said. "I think it's time to determine if there mobile suit pilots, or not."

_Jordan_

I could see the four mobile suits now. They were GINN Deep space patrol types. To the core, they were just normal GINN's, but you could easily see a difference. They were armed with back-mounted anti-mobile armor missiles, beam rifles, anti-beam coated shields, and the GINN swords that seemed more updated. But there color scheme is what caught me off guard. They were all painted an olive green, with mixtures of Brown, and a darker green color covered their entire bodies. And on each of the four mobile suit's shoulder was an image of a green owl.

"It's the Grudego team." Matthew said.

"The Grudego team?" I repeated. "As in one of the Agressor Squadrons of Zaft?"

"There the ones." Matthew said. "Everyone else has gotten back to the ship. Looks like its just youand be Bro."

I nodded. "Well then…" I said, drawing my swords. "lets do this."

GINN

"Take them two-on-one." Bernard said. "And keep your eyes pealed. These are no ordinary pilots."

Katana

The Shadow Scythe and Katana floated back-to-back. The Grudego team split up into teams of two, and approached from the left and right. We were in quite a jam there. We were outnumbered, again. Our enemy was one of top Aggressor squadrons of the Zaft forces, lead by one of the most noted aces of the war. And they were now trying to surround me, and take us on two-on-one most likely. How do you fix that? Do what they would least expect, Attack. I turned the katana, and I fired with pure precision at one of the GINN's approaching from Matthew's side. The beam round, by some miracle, hit the GINN.

GINN

"Lucy!" James yelled as his wingman was shot away. "You bastard!" He yelled, and charged forward. "James, wait!" Bernard pleaded, but his words fell on deaf ears, as his wingman charged blindly to avenge his fallen comrade.

Katana

_Bingo. _I thought. "Matthew, swap places!" I yelled. I then took up my brother's spot, while Matthew covered my flank. Matthew fired his machine cannons at the other two GINN's, while I engaged the other GINN. "You'll pay with what you did!" The pilot of the GINN yelled. It blindly fired its beam rifle, and missiles at me and the Katana. "You're mistaken!" I yelled as I pulled up, shot the missiles from out of space with my Ingleside rounds, and charged forward. "No way!" The pilot yelled. I then sliced clean through the GINN, and it exploded.

GINN

_Dammit. _Thought Bernard. _There goes my first plan right down the drain. _"Kent, take down that Black one! I'll distract that Red one." "Wilco, sir." Kent said. His GINN then started firing at the Shadow Scythe with its beam rifle. "Now, your mine Red suit." He said.

Katana

_Looks like they're mad now. _I thought as I saw the last two charged forward. One of them distracted Matthew, while the other one, probably the Owl himself, sped towards me. I caught his GINN sword's attack with my own blade. I then backed forward, and swung at him. He dodged by moving left, and swung again, but now I dodged it, and fired a small volley of Ingleside rounds. A handful hit his leg, but did little damage. I then deflected another swing with my shield. I then stabbed towards the GINN, but it moved back. But not before launching a wave of missiles. I evaded them, and as they turned around, I destroyed them with my last inglusadie bullets. I saw Matthew fire his cannons, hitting dead and center with the other GINN. Now just the captain was left. I charged forward, Katana in my left hand. The last GINN parried it, but failed to realize in time I had drawn my beam saber, and stabbed him in the chest. I then sliced, and the GINN exploded. I then took a deep breath. _That wasn't so bad. _I thought.

_Katana_

Matthew watched as his Brother almost single-handedly took down the GINN piloted by the infamous Owl of Endymion. It surprised him how well his Brother preformed, even though he was just a rookie. He couldn't help but smile. _He's good. _He thought as they returned to the ship. _Its almost natural of him to be piloting mobile suits in the first place. That along with Ryu _and _Sebastian's training…Jordan and the others are going to become unstoppable. _

Zar watched as the remaining enemy mobile suits, along with Rau La Cruset's withdrew. And the _Archangel _moved towards Artemis. Sayla whistled. "Very interesting." She said, watching the ship. "They survived."

"Perhaps it was luck?" Dren asked. Zar shook his head. "No." he said. "There are factors that occurred here. First off was of course when the _Archangel _did what Rau least expected and went on the offensive rather than a diversion. Second, and of course most formal is the Demon Lord's roar in battle…"

He remembered when he first heard that roar, the one time he actually felt fear. _Never again. _He thought, recollecting his thought.

"And also, a smaller factor I noticed." He continued. "What, sir?" Dren asked. "The White-and-red Mobile suit, along with the Black one as well." Zar said. "Katana and Shadow Scythe, I believe they are called. For some reason, they both fought just as much, and hard any of the other suits, yet…their power never drained from this special armor they use called Phase Shift. This worries me slightly."

"Could they possibly be nuclear powered sir?" Dren asked, in fear. Many in Zaft know if the E.A regains its ability to use Nuclear weapons, then the war was pretty much over and done with…with the extermination of the PLANT colonies. "No." Sayla said. "The E.A has not been able to create such devices yet. And we haven't even fully developed our own N-Jammer cancellers yet. Most likely they just have a new power source for it."

"Using what?" Dren asked. "That I do not know yet." Zar said. "But I intend to find out. Tell the team to mount up. We are moving to assist Rau La Cruset's team now."

"Yes sir." Dren said. Zar then straightened in his chair. _That fighting style…_he thought as he overviewed the Katana and Shadow Scythe's fights with the Akuma, and the one with the Grizzly. _It's so familure…no…no it couldn't be him._

_With Ryu_

Ryu breathed deeply as fatigue washed over him as he docked with the Archangel and left his machine. Looking over to the Strike he saw Murdoch wave him over concern written all over his face "The kid won't come out, she's in battle shock, Mu said it would be best to handle it."

Nodding his understanding Ryu enter the cockpit where Kira was staring unseeingly straight ahead as she gripped the controls tightly shaking like a leaf in a breeze. Kneeling in front of Kira Ryu spoke in soothing tones as he eased her out of the cockpit with everyone keeping a respectful distance as he guided her first to the change room to help her get out of the flight suit and into her regular uniform, he than guided her to their room still peaking soothingly gently rubbing her back. Entering their room he quickly closed and locked the door before guiding her to the bed and sat her down on his lap embracing her gently "It's alright Kira let it out I'm here, and I will always be here for you so let it out."

That broke the gates holding Kira's tears back as she clutched to Ryu like a lifeline crying her heart out about everything that has happened to her so far, losing her home and being forced to fight her friend, her worry about her parents, and her fear of losing her friends, being captured and losing Ryu. They remained like that for a long time until Kira had cried herself out and slowly began to fall asleep against Ryu "Don't leave me Ryu." She whimpered as sleep began to take her.

Ryu only shifted them so that they were lying down and pulled the covers over them and held her close to his chest "I would never dream of leaving you Kira, never, I would never leave you because I love you." He solemnly swore as he stroked her hair.

Kira smiled as she snuggled into Ryu's chest feeling safe "I love you too Ryu." She replied as she allowed sleep to claim her.


	8. Phase 6: The vanishing Gundam

Miguel: Hey, has anyone seen where 117Jorn went off too?

Orlo: Ya, where is he?

Dragonknightryu: I dunno. I don't think he's coming.

Orlo: Hey, what's this here? *Picks up Microphone*

Dragonknightryu: Uhh, I don't think you should be messing with that.

Orlo: Eh, bite me Ryu! Its my turn on the sattel. *Clears throght* SPACE

*Gets cut off from the opening. Link: http : / www . youtube . com /watch?v=oVTQb8ffSZc*

_Vesalius, Bridge_

"That could have gone better." Rau admitted after the debriefing "I nearly had a heart attack when I heard that roar again."

"What _was_ that sir?" Yuuka asked "The minute he heard his was friend in danger he just went crazy or something."

"We are not really certain what it was," Naleen admitted "It first happened at Endymion when his Squad Commander kamikazed our flagship to remove the prototype jammer we had installed, around a third of our losses at Endymion could be traced to him."

"Holy shit," Dearka's jaw dropped "but if he could of killed us so easily than why didn't he?"

"A good question," Jacques admitted with a sigh "I believe that he is sick of killing, and would avoid it if possible, but is still willing to do so if put in a corner."

"Well, on the bright side, I figured out why Matthew joined the Enemy." Lev said. Everyone turned to face him as Kane glared at him.

"Oh, Why did he then?" Rau asked, intrigued.

"Family, Commander." Lev said. "Apparently during the Raid, Kane here mercilessly killed Matthew's Mother and Father as they tried to Defend three of the G-Weapons."

The eyes of Le Cruset team widened, and darted towards the Akuma Pilot. He just shrugged. "They were armed, and I retaliated." He said simply.

"True." Lev said. "But I don't think that attempting to kill Matthew's little Brother afterwards who actually witness you kill his Mother was thinking that at the moment."

The Jaw's of Yuuka, Dearka, Yzak, Nicole, and even Athrun dropped. "Matthew's Brother?" Yuuka asked amazed.

Lev nodded. "Apparently, Jordan, his Brother, was at the Factory trying to find shelter from our attack. He then stumbled across the fire fight between Kane and his Parents. Kane killed them, and was going to Kill Jordan if Matthew hadn't intervened."

They eyes off all of the Le Cruset team glared at Kane. None more so than Nicole and Athrun. "You…Bastard." Nicole muttered. "How could you do that!"

"His brother was shooting at me!" Kane said. "What do you think I should have done? Let him shoot me?"

"At this point, I wouldn't have minded." Yzak snarled.

"Enough of this." Rau said. "Lev and Kane was right. Kane was right that he had to defend himself, but Lev is also right that he shouldn't have been so willing to kill. But this does not change the fact that Matthew is working with the E.A now, and as such he is still an enemy."

"At least we have his motive now." Dearka said, still glaring at Kane.

"And what of the council summons sir?" Athrun asked curious.

"The Gamow is in route with the third fleet, Athrun, Kane, you two will be coming with me to make our report and to get the Aegis and Akuma repaired after the Dragon tore through it, and how the Akuma lost its arm." Rau explained "The rest of you will be transferring to the Gamow and will be put under the command of Commander Mark Cadillac, he also has your custom DEEP Cgue's from the homeland Naleen, Jacques, So you all better get ready to transfer over, there isn't anything we can do about the Archangel right now as they are now in Artimis Space."

"Yes sir." They coursed as they saluted before leaving to their quarters.

OoOoOo

"Well, I think it's time we called Artemis and requested permission to enter. Mr. Buskirk?" Murrue said.

"Hailing now, Ma'am" Kuzzey replied.

Murrue sighed in relief as the Archangel floated just outside of the Artimis base "Thank god for Jordan's plan," she breathed "Because that could have gone worse then what happened."

Jordan's plan was to launch their decoy missile in the direction of Artimis base as the Archangel stayed put in the debris field and waited for the ZAFT ship to pursue it and when that happened they attacked them forcing them to retreat. His reasoning for that was that if they could get the first strike in then they could hopefully damage one of their suits enough where they would have to call off the pursuit for repairs.

"You can say that again," Mu agreed as he rubbed his eyes "Any word from Ryu on Kira?"

"She's fine now, eating in the cafeteria with the others." Ryu answered as he stepped into the bridge "Still a little shaken but nothing that will be with her forever."

"Good to hear," Murrue said honestly.

"I still don't like it," Sebastian said, "I took some precautions with Predator."

"Like what?" Natarle said.

"Rigged the thing to blow if someone else besides me tried to access it." Ryu smiled. "Great minds think alike I suppose." He said. "I've already taken that step on the Dragon."

"That would take care of things", Mu said, "What about the others?"

"Already taken care of." Ryu said. "I've put locks on all of the Gundams. I've given the codes to the others already. Only we know how to unlock them now."

Sebastian nodded. "If Garcia is the kind of man I've heard him to be, then he'd love to get his hands on either of these machines," he said.

"Clearance granted from Artemis, Ma'am" Kuzzey said, "We can enter the Umbrella, and they'll be sending an inspector aboard to confirm who we really are."

"Mu, Natarle, Sebastian and I will be disembarking when we finish docking, so you'll be in command until we get back." Murrue said indicating Ryu.

"Understood ma'am." Ryu answered saluting before he left the bridge again and made his way to the cafeteria to get some food himself.

_**Artemis Base, Harbor**_

The inspector, one Lieutenant Commander Biddaulph came aboard almost instantly of the _Archangel's_ arrival in the harbor, and just his demeanor alone was enough to put everyone on guard.

"Welcome aboard, Commander," Murrue said as pleasantly as possible, eyeing him warily.

"Thank you, Lieutenant…assuming that's who you really are" Biddaulph said, looking out the main view port. Sebastian followed the Eurasian's glance, and his jaw clenched when he saw armed men surrounding the ship.

"Commander, what's going on here?" Murrue snapped.

"I must advise you, Lieutenant, remain silent" Biddaulph said in an almost bored tone.

"I suggest you answer the lady's question cockbite!" Sebastian snapped, getting full on in Biddaulph's face, having instinctively snapped into 'commander mode'.

"How dare you!" Biddaulph said indignantly, "Who do you think you are to treat me this way?" In an instant, Sebastian's sword flew out, stopping inches from the Eurasian's face.

"I thought the sword would have been a dead giveaway", Sebastian said, his voice cold as space itself, "But you've probably never been to Jachin, so let me introduce myself properly. Sebastian Connor, the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due, at your service."

"ZAFT's Supreme Ace?" Biddaulph's eyes gave off a greedy flash, "Well, this changes things. I'm certain that Admiral Garcia would be most interested in speaking to you. Would the officers please follow me? Including you, Mr. Connor."

"That's _Commander_ Connor to you" Natarle said, eyes narrowed. Sebastian shot a mischievous glance to Natarle that said, _thank you_.

"Of course, you'll have to leave the sword behind, security purposes and all."

"Fair enough," Sebastian said, throwing the katana to Mir, "Take care of that for me, will you?" Sebastian set his cobalt blue eyes on Biddaulph, "I assure you, there's no need to confiscate it from her, she hasn't the slightest idea how to use it."

"Whatever" Biddaulph said.

_Mess Hall_

Upon entering Ryu smiled at the sight of Kira laughing at some joke that Tolle made and quickly gathered up his food and sat down next to Kira giving he a quick peck "Feeling better?"

"Much thank you." Kira answered honestly smiling at Ryu, her night's sleep doing wonders "And thank you for coming when you did."

"Hey I promised didn't I?" Ryu asked with a big grin on his face as he tore into a piece of bread.

At that Moment, the Takeo Brothers entered the mess hall as well as they got their own meals. "So Jordan," Matthew said to his younger sibling as they sat down. "So how was your first real battle?"

Jordan took a bite out of his bread before answering. "Well, to be honest its kinda hard to explain." He admitted.

"How's that?" Ryu asked, interested into how Jordan felt in his first fight.

"Well," He said. "When I first fought back at Heliopolis, I pretty much had no idea what I was really doing, and I admit, I was pretty damn scared. The second time when we tried to save Heliopolis I wasn't as afraid, but still scared. But I was driven to protect our home. The last time…I don't know…It was like all of my fears were replaced by something else. Like that I wanted to fight. That I was actually enjoying the battle with the Grizzly pilot a little."

Ryu smiled. "That's a good thing, Jordan." He said. "Your actually coming close to using battle lust."

"Battle lust?" Jordan asked. "Isnt that when a fighter only cares about fighting, and killing?"

"No, no. That's Blood lust." Ryu reassured. "Battle lust is when you are at a state of mind when you only care about defeating your opponent, and just that opponent. You can see your battle more clearly, almost as if you could predict you opponent's moves. The bad thing about it is that since you entirely focused on that battle, you hardly notice anything around you. So if you find battle lust knocking on your door, make sure only to use if when you think anyone around you don't need your help. Otherwise you can find yourself in deep trouble."

Jordan nodded as he bit down into a sandwich. "I'll keep that in mind at the next battle." He said.

Just after Ryu finished up his meal a squad of soldiers busted into the room their guns at the ready "What the Fuck is going on!" Ryu roared standing up as a base Lieutenant walked in.

"Due to the fact that your ship is not in our base registry I'm afraid I must place you all under arrest," The Lieutenant said in an oily voice "So please remain calm and sit back down as we will be bringing everyone aboard this ship to this location."

Growling Ryu sat back down as he eyed each of the soldiers "Should've know something like this would've happened," he whispered "Garcia was always a snake."

As people slowly filtered in Ryu patrolled around the room asking the various staff about what they had seen while giving some orders on what to do should something else happen.

Artemis, Gerard Garcia's Office

"Well, it appears you are who you say you are," said Rear Admiral Gerard Garcia in a snide tone, "I am afraid, however, that I cannot allow you to leave the base at this time."

Murrue's eyes flared, "Why is that sir?"

"The _Laurasia_-class is still outside. We can't lower the Umbrella while enemy forces are in the area. I hope you understand."

"Will you at least be able to resupply us? After leaving Heliopolis in a hurry, we're running a little low." "Of course, Lieutenant. If I may change the subject, I was quite surprised to find the Hawk of Endymion on this ship. May I ask what your mission was?" Garcia said to Mu.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say, sir" Mu's eyes were narrowed, giving him a slight resemblance for the bird of prey that he had been named for.

"Fair enough, although it's fair to say it's astonishing to find _you_ of all people aboard, Commander Connor" Garcia said.

"Oh, you don't say, Admiral?" Sebastian replied, "Why is it such a shocker?"

"I'm 'shocked' that ZAFT's Supreme Ace would willingly betray the PLANTs."

"Well then, let me clear the air by saying, that while I've deserted ZAFT, I haven't betrayed the PLANTs." Sebastian said, as evenly as possible, all the while fighting his desire to wring Garcia's neck.

"Even still, now that you've joined the Earth Forces, which makes you very…valuable to me."

"Cut the crap, Garcia! Let's skip to the chase" Sebastian snapped, tired of the charade, "I know what it is you want. You want all to know all about ZAFT's defenses, and how to get past them. Well sorry, you're not getting anything but this! You cockbiting fucktard!" and Sebastian flipped the bird.

"That was a foolish move, Commander. You'll find that I can be most persuasive" Garcia said, "Take them away, Private. I'm sorry Lieutenant, this is for your own protection…"

"You're making a mistake, Admiral-" Natarle started, as the guard reached for Sebastian, who grabbed the guard's arm and twisted, breaking it in the process, Sebastian then pushed the guard away, reached into his uniform jacket and produced his USP, and put a bullet in the guard's head.

"You're an idiot, you know that? I may be known for the sword, but did you really think it was my only weapon? I may not like guns, but I'm not above using them." Sebastian said, running out the door before anyone could react to what had happened.

OoOoOo

_Gamow, Hanger._

"Welcome aboard," A ZAFT red coat with shoulder length brown hair that had a single white bane running through it and had ice-blue eyes with a green trim, while he stood with the ease and grace of a veteran that was supplemented by his martial artist build "I'm Mark Cadillac commander of the Gamow and I am in charge of this mission."

"It's good to you again Mark, how've you been!" Naleen greeted cheerfully as Jacques nodded his head in agreement "Maybe now we can actually stand a chance against Ryu and Sebastian now."

Mark chuckled softly "Maybe, your suits are over there," he said gesturing to a black and gold colored pair of Cgue DEEP arms with Naleen's Golden one having a prototype beam sniper rifle stored onboard and Jacques having an extra heavy laser sword "Go ahead and familiarize yourselves with them," Turning to the other red coats he pointed to Nicol "Your Nicol right? The pilot of the Blitz?"

"Yes sir." Nicol confirmed snapping a salute as Mark nodded slowly looking up at the Blitz.

"The Blitz is equipped with an experimental stealth system right?"

"Yes sir."

"Humph, a cowards weapon if you ask me." Yzak snorted in contempt.

A sudden smack resounded through the hanger as Mark backhanded Yzak with a snarl on his face "You moron," Mark snarled eyeing Yzack in contempt "You don't realize that your so called 'cowards weapon' can save a lot of lives in infiltration teams allowing them to gather better information before the main attack saving the lives of countless soldiers, not to mention speaking like that to your own comrade in arms, do you really expect someone to watch your back in a battle with an attitude like that? Keep that up while your under my command and I'll not only take you off the Duel but bust you down to green coat and make sure you receive the crappiest post _ever_ and your mother's influence will be of _no_ help, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR SOLDIER!"

"Y-yes sir!" Yzack responded quickly as he saluted afraid of the sudden increase of pressure emanating from the red coated commander.

"Good," Mark said calming down "Now Nicol, how long does this Mirage Colloid of yours last?" he asked a plan forming in his mind.

OoOoOo

_Archangel_

"Eurasia is supposed to be an ally," said Sai, looking at Jordan. "Don't they have good relations with the Atlantic Federation?"

"I don't think that's the issue here," Jordan said. Kira sighed. "The problem is we have no identification code," she said. "Is it that big of a deal to these guys?" asked Tolle. "Apparently it is," said Sarah, her annoyance obvious in her tone and expression. "If you ask me," said Murdoch, looking at me. "That's just an excuse. There's something else going on here."

"I agree," Ryu said. "And I think I know what." Murdock staired at him. "What?" he asked. "The Gundams." Jordan said. "The what?" He asked, scratching his head. "The G-Weapons." Matthew said. He then nodded. "It would make sense." He said. Chris sighed, stepping over into a corner.

"Figures." Ryu said, defiantly ticked off. "I should have known that bastard didn't change in three years."

"Ok, what happened?" Jordan asked. "What happened between you and this Garcia guy?"

Ryu paused for a moment. "About a year before Endymion…" he said. "Me and the rest of Falcon squadron were stationed on the Earth Alliance Ship _New Jersey, _Garcia was the captain at the time." He took a deep breath. "One day, he asked our captain, Yuna Falcon to see him in his quarters…" he trailed off after that. "And he…" he simply could say it, but we all got the picture. "Bastard." Matthew muttered. "How could he of even reached rear admiral rank?"

"Believe me kid, I ask myself that even today." Ryu said, trying to calm down. "The guy even tried to steal my own Custom CGUE, but he didn't know about the self destruct feature I added in." He chuckled. "Never seen him so mad in my life. But it took me months to get a replacement suit though."

During this, Jordan was attempting to plan an escape. He knew it's probably impossible at this point, but…he had an idea.

Jordan had to look through the schematic's of the Gundam's that Zaft captured. He got a hunch that they were not just gonna wait for them to get out of Artemis, so he need to see what they could do.

That's when he saw the Blitz's features, and he smiled.

"Bingo," Jordan said quietly, drawing the attention of the others. "Chief Neumann?"

"Yes?" asked the blue-haired ship pilot.

"The Umbrella shield, it's only active when enemies are within the defense perimeter, right?" He asked.

"Yeah…" said Neumann, not knowing where he was going with this. Everyone else was curious as well.

"Is that perimeter… greater than the operational range of the Blitz with Mirage Colloid deployed?" Jordan asked. The eyes of the _Archangel_ crew widened in horror, and most internally swore. Sarah, Chris, Liz, Kira, and the others were left blinking in confusion. Though Matt who had used Mirage colloid grinned.

"Mirage Colloid?" asked Chris.

"An active cloak, rendering it invisible to all forms of detection," Jordan said. "An absolute stealth system. The ZAFT soldiers are anything but stupid—they may not have had time to learn the full capabilities of the Blitz in the last battle, but they know about the Mirage Colloid by now. Hell, Matthew's used the Shadow Scythe's Mirage Colloid twice now. It's actually a pretty good system…but the downside is that Phase shift has to be shut off, making projectile weapons lethal."

"Which means they're coming for us any minute now," said Murdoch. "Damn… we need to get you to your mobile suits."

Then Ryu started the chuckle. "What's so funny?" Sarah asked. "This isn't a real good situation we're in right now."

"But it is." Jordan said. "The soldiers here at Artemis are inexperienced, and are so confident that their precious shield will protect them from anything. But when the Blitz arrives, its first target will obviously be Artemis's Umbrella shield generator. With Artemis's only real defense gone, the soldiers here will be in chaos."

He then smirked. "It would be the perfect time for us to get into our suits in all of the confusion." Now Chris smiled. "I love it when a plan comes together." he said.

Suddenly a large bald man walked in with a commander insignia with another Lieutenant following him "I am the base Commander Garcia," the large man announced in an obviously false pleasant voice "All I want are the pilots for the four mobile weapons in the hanger." No said a word as his eyes swept the room and stopped on a scared Flay "You know, the captain of this vessel is a female, so it could very well be that one of the pilots is a female as well." He suddenly grabbed Flay's arm and roughly dragged her up causing her to cry out. Ryu gripped Sai's shoulder preventing him from doing something stupid while Liz held held Chris in place oddly enough.

"That's enough Garcia," Ryu called out standing up calling all attention to him "I honestly can't believe that you think that the daughter of EA's president is a mobile _suit_ pilot."

Garcia whirled around and looked at Ryu in surprise as he slowly walked in front of a nervous Garcia "So you were alive after all." Garcia snarled in contempt as he eyed the coordinator in obvious dislike.

"I've missed you too." Ryu said sarcastically "So what is it you want?"

"My guess is your the pilot of the Dragon?" Garcia speculated to which Ryu curtly nodded.

"La Flagga piloted the Strike as Ensign Badgiruel piloted the Raven, Ensign Neumann piloted the Zephyr, Sebastian piloted the Predator-"

"And me and my Brother piloted the Katana and Shadow Scythe." Jordan said, standing up along with Matthew.

Ryu gave Jordan and Matthew a look that said _You should have stayed down. _But Jordan looked back and him with a face saying. _You were running out of people to lie about anyways._ "We're both Coordinators, like Ryu." Ryu just accepted it. "Happy? Now leave the civilians alone."

Garcia snorted at Ryu "Do you honestly believe that I would believe a traitor such as yourself," Garcia sneered as he eyed the area that Ryu was sitting in.

But then he staired at Jordan and Matthew, and raised an eyebrow. "Thought I do believe these two is the Katana and Shadow Scythe pilots." He said, smirking as he walked towards the two. "What are your names?" he asked. "Jordan and Matthew Takeo." Matt said. Garcia chuckled. "I should have guessed." He said. "You both look to damn much like your Father."

A jolt ran up our spines. _What? _Jordan thought. "How do you know our Father?" Jordan asked, in a slightly demanding tone. The admiral shook his head. "That would be a story for another time." He said, smirking. "Perhaps the real other pilots would come forward with a little, _persuasion, though_"

With that the guard closest to Ryu slammed the butt of his rifle into Ryu's gut. Ryu just gave a small grunt as he eyed stared at Garcia while Murdoch firmly held Kira in place "Did a fly run into me?" Ryu asked as if discussing the weather as he grinned. _That's Ryu for ya. _Jordan thought.

Garcia growled at Ryu as he nodded to the guard who smashed the back of his skull causing him to cry out and fall to his knee "Ryu!" Kira shouted in fear.

Garcia raised an eyebrow when he heard Kira's shout and signalled a guard who shoved Murdoch and grabbed Kira roughly making her hiss in pain "Well what do we have here?" Garcia drawled smirking as Ryu narrowed his eyes "What is such a pretty young thing doing on this ship?"

Ryu gave off a low growl as he stood up and eyed Garcia darkly "Watch it Garcia," he warned darkly "Or you could lose something precious to you."

Garcia only smiled sickly at Ryu "So she's close to you than?" he questioned as he twisted her arm making her cry out. _Dude, you just did the STUPIDEST thing in your LIFE. _Jordan thought.

Suddenly Ryu was in front of Garcia with his fist pulled back and punched him full in the face forcing him to drop Kira as he staggered back in pain while guards all pointed their rifles at Ryu who kept his eyes on Garcia as he righted himself "Don't kill him, yet," Garcia ordered "Knowing him if anyone but him tried to unlock the Dragon it would self-destruct like Sebastian did."

"Learned from the last time have you?" Ryu asked rhetorically as the guards surrounded him and bound his wrists "That surprises me really, 'cause that would imply you have a brain." Garcia snarled as a guard smashed Ryu's gut causing Ryu to bend slightly and let out a grunt "What? Afraid to get close to little old me?" Ryu mocked with a sick grin that surprised his friends.

Growling Garcia stepped up to Ryu and backhanded him across the face, Ryu's only reaction was to tilt his head and smile at Garcia "Is there a breeze in the room? Or was that it?" Growling again Garcia gave a full blow to Ryu's nose breaking it and causing Kira to scream out in horror and fear at seeing him collapse. "I'll admit, that was a good one." Ryu commended as he stood back up with a slight sway "I guess your bulk is good for something other than scaring away the ladies."

Everyone just watched in awe as Ryu continued to mock Garcia as the blows rained down on him.

OoOoOo

_Artemis_

"Regular patrol sweep," announced one of the Artemis control officers. "No sign of enemies within defensive perimeter." "Okay, it's fine now," said the officer in charge. "Switch lightwave barrier facilities to level two alert status."

Outside the defense perimeter, the _Gamow_ detected the closing of the umbrella, and opened the catapult for the Blitz. Nicol launched his machine immediately, and as he did so, he pressed a button. From the _Gamow_'s point of view, the Blitz suddenly vanished into nothingness. "Mirage Colloid formation looks good," the green-haired pilot said to himself. "Dispersion loss rate: thirty-seven percent. Its usage is limited to a maximum of eighty minutes." That in mind, Nicol burned the Blitz at the maximum safe speed for Artemis.

_Archangel, Cafeteria._

Back at the Archangel Ryu definitely looked liked he had been through the grinder with a broken nose a multiple bruises on his body and his uniform ripped in a couple of places while the others looked on in horror, the only thing keeping Kira back was Neumann holding her back. Garcia grinned sickly as he watched Ryu stagger back up onto his feet "I'll ask you again, who are the pilots for the other machines." Garcia asked as Ryu shook his head clear.

"Barney the Dinosaur, the yellow tellietubby and Leroy Jenkins." Ryu answered giving off a small chuckle "Didn't you hear his battle shout?"

Garcia snarled and raised his fist to to strike Ryu again, Only for it to suddenly stop. He was then suddenly in the air and the wind knocked out of him. He fell to the ground to see Jordan standing there, fist read from his recent punch. "Hit him again and I'll rip out your stomach and feed it too you." He said in a menacing voice. _I always wanted to say something like that. _he thought.

Then a pair of guards began to raise their rifles. "No!" Kira shouted "Please stop it, I'm the pilot for the Strike so please stop it." She pleaded desperately.

Garcia Snarled. "You expect me to believe that a mere child was piloting one of those mobile suits. Who are the real pilots, brat?"

Garcia then tried to punched Jordan in the face. Or would have if Jordan wasn't a Coordinator. He sidestepped the blow, grabbed Garcia's wrist and threw the fat commander back to the ground. One of the soldiers grabbed Jordan, restraining him.

Garcia eyed Jordan. "Who are the other pilots?"

Jordan didn't say anything, but spit in his face. "Go to hell." He said. He noticed Ryu shake his head, knowing he inspired him to do this.

Garcia was about to punch him in the face when yet another hand stopped him. This time it was Chris.

"Stop this now!" he said. "I'm the Pilot of the Raven." This only made him madder. "I hate liers!" He said, attempting to punch Chris, but Flay stopped him. "Wait, their telling the truth!" she yelled. "Their coordinators!"

Looking at each other both Liz and Sarah nodded and stood up as well "We're the pilots of the Zephyr and the Slash." Liz stated.

"There that wasn't so hard now was it?" Garcia asked snidely "Grab them and bring the girl as well, as... motivation to cooperate."

Two guards flanked the pilots, while the other two dragged Flay out of the cafeteria.

Sebastian then arrived a few seconds later, "Chief, what's the word?"

"That slime bag admiral was looking for the G-Weapon pilots. Ryu, and Jordan gave him a hard time. he was about to pump us full of lead before the kids all stood up."

"Where's Flay?" Sebastian said, his blue eyes gaining a hint of red to them.

"They took her along as _motivation_ in case the kids pulled anything" Murdoch said with venom.

"Shit!" Sebastian said, "Chief, you're in charge here. I'm going to help the others, and locate Predator."

"Will do sir!" Murdoch said, "Give 'em hell for me!"

"Don't worry, I intend to. Gerard Garcia is going to learn what it means to be _hunted_" Sebastian said, his tone even and low.

"Here, Sebastian, you might need this!" Mir said, giving the Storm Wolf back his katana.

"Thank you for holding onto it, Mir" Sebastian said, strapping his sword to his side and then kissing her hand, and forcing her cheeks to flush.

"Be careful, kid" Murdoch said. Sebastian stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder.

"If you're worried about me, don't. Worry about Garcia, He's about to find out that I'm just as dangerous _outside_ of the cockpit as I am _inside_!"

Artemis, Hanger

"Quite the amazing series that the Alliance has made don't you agree?" Garcia said suddenly civil as he watched the techs continue their work "I have a proposition for you, work for me and help me develop new mobile weapons and I shall do everything in my power to give you your hearts desires."

"You want us to remove the lock on the OS's, right?" asked Kira

"For starters," said Garcia, smiling in a manner that reminded the seven Coordinators of a wolf staring down its next meal. "But I imagine you're capable of doing many other things."

"What do you mean?" asked Sarah, now confused.

"For example," said Garcia, looking up at the Strike. "You could analyze this machine's design and build more like it. Or perhaps you could even come up with a weapon that's effective against this type of mobile suit."

"Look, we're nothing more than civilian students," Jordan said."We're not soldiers, and we're not some military contractors. There's no reason why we have to do _any_ of those things."

"But you're already traitors to your fellow Coordinators, are you not?" said Garcia, smiling.

"Us? Traitors?" Chris said, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know what your reasons were," said Garcia. "But regardless, you did betray your own people, and so by rights…"

"You're wrong!" said Kira. "We did it cause…"

"Being Coordinators siding with the Earth Forces makes you two very valuable," interrupted Garcia. "There's nothing to worry about, I assure you that someone like yourselves could be made welcome, even in Eurasia."

Jordan stepped forward, the guards pulled out there weapons. "Since when did we side with the E.A?" he said. "Like I said, we are all simply civilians from a Neutral nation. So are the other civilians. And Ryu here is a retired E.A ace so you have nothing on him either. We honestly don't have to do a damn thing you tell us to do because we don't report by your chain of command, because we don't belong in a military of any kind. And as for your Coordinator comment, this war is one between Zaft and the E.A as far as I care. As much as people think it's a war between Naturals and coordinators, I just think it's another bloody war between humanity bickering between one-another like the hundreds of times before. Coordinators or no coordinators. So again, your little _persuasion _their means nothing to us."

Garcia only sneered at Jordan "We are not looking to join anyone," Kira stated her eyes full of determination "We just want to go home."

The others nodded in agreement causing Garcia's scowl to deepen further "You will unlock those mobile suits or I will have you killed," he threatened "and I will start with this girl, and if that doesn't motivate you than I will start killing the civilians." The others gasped, but Jordan remained calm, while Ryu growled.

"Don't you know who my father is? He's Vice Foreign Minister George Allster of the Atlantic Federation. When he hears of this…" Garcia promptly slapped her.

"I know your father, young lady. Quite frankly, he's a fool. Perhaps when this is over, you can entertain my men. Women in the military are quite a rarity, they would enjoy your company" Garcia said in positively lecherous tone, "And now your friends will remove the lock on the G-Weapon's OS, from there we'll copy all the data on the machine and its weapons."

"Tell me Garcia…" Jordan said. "How long has it been since the Zaft ships left Artemis's sensor range?" Garcia raised an eyebrow. "ten minutes ago, why?" he asked. "If your looking for help you're your Coordinator buddies, if they approach this station, we'll just activate the shield again." Jordan looked like he was calculating something. Then he smiled.

"Your right." He said. "You'll activate the Umbrella as soon as you _do _detect enemy ships." He then staired deviously at Garcia. "But what if you _cant _detect the Blitz's Mirage Colloid Stealth system!" he shouted in triumph, and Garcia's eyes widened. "GET THE UMBRELLA UP AGAIN!" he shouted, then suddenly, the base shook violently.

oOoOoOoOo

Artemis, Exterior

Nicol let off a hoot of victory. His plan had gone like clockwork. The Umbrella had gone down once the _Gamow_ had left the area. Giving the Blitz a straight on shot at the base proper. His beam rifle spat out emerald death at the Umbrella generators, then finished the job with a slash from his beam saber.

"The shield is down! Come on in, guys!" Nicol called to the Buster, Lightning, Grizzley, Duel, and the CGUE's.

"Acknowledged!" Mark said, "Let's do it boys and girls!"

oOoOoOoOo

"What was that!" Garcia yelled. "Sir, we are under attack!" A voice yelled. "A mobile suit just appeared from out of nowhere, and destroyed the Umbrella system!" "Thank you Nicole!" Matthew yelled as he punched the guard holding flay square in the face, while the others took down the other guards.

Ryu grinned and quickly leapt and shoulder tackled the guard in front of him while jerking the gun out of the guards hands. Turning he quickly fired off a couple of shots at the remaining guards killing them before he spied Garcia hauling his fat ass out of the Hanger. Meanwhile the others managed to secure their mobile suits and were moving them to launch to defend the Archangel. Reaching back into the cockpit Ryu pulled out his Mp5 that was in a secured compartment along with radio headset and quickly slipped it on and tuned to the Mobile suits Radio frequency "I want the six of you to launch," he ordered quickly as he clambered down the elevator "I'm going after Garcia."

"_Will you be alright?_" Kira asked in concern "_You did take some bad hits._"

"I'll be fine Kira," Ryu assured as he face the Strike with a grin on his bruised face and waved her on "Go, I need to settle things with tub o' lard."

A small chuckle came over the radio "_Be safe Ryu._" She said with a slightly stern voice.

Ryu saluted the Strike "Aye aye." The Strike, Raven, Slash, and Zephyr launched, But Jordan and Matthew stayed with Ryu. "What are you waiting for?" Ryu asked. "We want answers." Matthew said. "We want to know what Garcia knows about our father. And how he knows him."

"What if he's lying?" Ryu asked. Jordan smirked. "Then I'll kick him for such a terrible lie." He said. Ryu nodded.

oOoOoOo

Artemis, Harbor

Chris floored the accelerator as he made his escape. He was doubly determined to make it out in light of his passenger. Flay currently had a death grip around Chris's neck, head burrowed into his shoulder, and eyes clamped shut.

"Don't worry, Flay. I won't let anything happen to you" Chris said in a reassuring tone.

"Do you really mean that?" Flay said, opening one eye. To which Chris simply nodded.

"Then in that case, do something about that!" Flay screamed, pointing at the black and red mobile suit approaching them, beam rifle firing.

_The Blitz_, Chris thought, He raised his beam saber, "Why can't you just leave us alone!" Chris shouted, swinging the massive blade.

Nicol quickly reversed thrust, just barely avoiding being bisected right in two. He fired the Blitz's lancer darts, forgetting that they would have done jack against Phase Shift.

Chris wasn't taking any chances. He evaded two of them and sliced the last one in half, "Just go away! I'm not going to let you hurt her!" he screamed. Flay looked up into Chris's eyes, seeing how fiercely he was fighting to protect her.

_Maybe, he's not that bad after all_, Flay thought, _He _did_ stand up for me in the cafeteria, and he's fighting to protect me, like a knight protecting his princess, _Flay smiled at that last notion.

Artemis, Interior

As Chris and the others battled Zaft, Sebastian was still stalking the corridors, looking for Predator, as well as Garcia.

_You can't hide forever cockbite_, he thought, _a wolf's sense of smell is second to none, and sooner or later, it finds its prey._

As he rounded another Corner, he then met up with Ryu, Jordan, and Matthew. "What are you two doing?" He asked.

"Looking for Garcia." Jordan answered. "He said something about knowing our Father, and it's better to be safe than sorry."

"And I got alittle Vendetta against this guy." Ryu said. Sebastian nodded, and allowed the others to follow him.

As the team continued forward, Sebastian glanced into a room and found Predator, swamped over with technicians, and surrounded by guards, and overseeing the whole thing, no one less than Rear Admiral Gerard Garcia himself.

"There he is." Ryu whispered.

"Ya." Jordan said. "But…how are we gonna get in?"

"Leave that…to me." Sebastian said as he Drew out his sword, and his UPS.

"…just try to leave Garcia alive, will you?" Ryu asked.

"No Promises."

Sebastian then calmly walked into the room.

"Excuse me!" Sebastian said at the top of his lungs, "I don't believe that belongs to you!"

Garcia began laughing, "You really are a fool. You know that, Connor? Look around you, how do expect to defeat a full platoon of guards all on your own? You may be a Coordinator, but even you can't last that long!"

"You're absolutely right, Admiral," Sebastian said, closing his eyes as if he was deep in thought, "Under normal circumstances, even a Coordinator would have to be suicidal to face these kinds of odds." Sebastian's eyes snapped open, and everyone stepped back in shock.

"But whoever said I was _JUST_ a Coordinator?" the source of everyone's shock was Sebastian's eyes, they had narrowed almost to slits, and the color was no longer blue, but a brilliant brownish-gold, the eyes of a wolf. The pupils had contracted, making the golden irises prominent. Sebastian let off a massive howl and charged head long into the fray.

It became a one sided massacre after that. Those not brought down by a pinpoint shot to the head from Sebastian's pistol met their very bloody end on the edge of Sebastian's sword. As he did this, Sebastian was growling and snarling. He was the wolf personified.

Ryu, Matthew, and Jordan all watched in Awe as Sebastian tore through the guards like tissue paper. "…holy shit." Matthew said simply. Jordan and Ryu just nodded in agreement.

Eventually it was just Garcia and the four pilots. To say that the good admiral was scared would be a gross understatement.

"Don't hurt me" he whimpered, his prior bravado evaporated at the man half his age who glared at him with narrowed eyes blazing like two pools of amber fire.

"You're pathetic," Sebastian growled in a low tone, "You call yourself a soldier? I'd love to see you on the front lines. you'd be shot down by a wet-eared kid on his first sortie."

"What is it you want?" Garcia said fearfully.

"I'll just be taking back what's rightfully mine," Sebastian said, "I could waste you, right here and now, but I'm in a giving mood today…so I'm leaving you too these three. Pray we never meet again, cockbite." And with that, Sebastian turned on his heel and walked toward Predator.

Sebastian entered Predator, closed his eyes, and shook his head back and forth a few times. When he opened them, they were back to normal.

"Damn! I really hoped not to resort to that", Sebastian said remorsefully, "I can't focus on that, I need to get out of here." He powered up the mobile suit and flew out.

_With Ryu, Jordan and Matthew._

Now that Sebastian was done, he thankfully left Garcia and us alone "Just you and me Garcia," Ryu growled as he stepped forward "Any last requests? Like Sebastian, I'm in a giving mood so I just might grant it." Jordan then stepped up to Ryu. "_Hey Ryu_" he whispered. "_Wanna screw with him?_" He then explained what He wanted to do, and to Garcia's dismay, Ryu smiled. "Let him have it." He said, as Jordan stepped forward arming his machine gun he picked up off of one of the dead guards.

"What contry you from?" Jordan asked. "What?" Garcia replied. "What aint no contry I've ever herd of!" He shouted. "They speak English in what?"

"What?"

"ENGLISH MOTHER FUCKER DO YOU SPEAK IT!"

"Yes!-y-Yes I speak it!" Garica stuttered, both Matthew and Ryu grinning. _You watched that movie _way _too much Jordan. _Matthew thought.

"Good," Jordan said. "Now, what does my father look like?"

"What?" Garcia said again. "SAY WHAT AGAIN!" Jordan shouted pointing my gun at his head. "Say what again mother Fucker I dare you, I double dare you mother Fucker! say what one more god damn time!"

"He…he's tall…" Garcia stuttered. "And…brown hair…" "Does he look like a bitch?" Jordan asked.

"What?" Garcia asked and he shot off his left Kneecap, and he whaled in pain. "DOES HE LOOK LIKE A BITCH?"

"No!" Garcia yelled in pain. Jordan nodded. "Ok, so far he's telling the truth." he said to Ryu who was suppressing the urge to laph and Matthew was just shaking his head. "I cant believe mom let you watch that movie." He muttered.

"Who ever said she knew I did?" Jordan replied, smiling.

"Now to get serious." He then walked up to him and Grabbed him by the coller. "How the hell do you know our father." Jordan said in a more serious tone. Garcia snarled. "Why should I tell you?" he said. Jordan fired a shot that missed his manhood by mere inches.

"Unless you wanan loose that, Tell us." He shouted. Garcia, now more cooperating, talked.

"Your father…" he said. "Was a mobile suit Pilot for the E.A. Possobly the only Natural pilot who could fly at a coordinator level. The damn fool was just like Ryu over there, with is Self-preserving rules of engagement, and your apparent views on Natural and coordinator unity."

Jordan stared at him. "Your lying." he said. "Our father was a worker at Morgenroete who died just a day ago by a Zaft pilot."

Garcia snickered. "Impossible." He said. "If that were true, then why was his last known position with the 8th fleet just a few months old?" Jordan's, and his Brother's eyes widened. "That's impossible." Jordan said. "Our Father had been living with me and my mother at Heliopolis for almost a year now! He never even left the Colony!"

"Then why don't you go and ask him yourself?" Garcia said. "He should still be there if I'm right. And if your right, he wont." Jordan glared at Garcia for a few seconds, and tossed him to the ground. "He's all yours ." Jordan said, and he and his brother moved for their suits.

"Don't you think the 'does he look like a bitch' thing was alittle overkill?" Matthew asked as we entered the Hanger.

"Matt, Sebastian just pulled out a one-man-army commando maneuver on like 50 guards with machine guns like a Werewolf on steroids." Jordan said. "I don't think my reference to Pulp Fiction were anything in compairison."

Matthew nodded in agreement as they entered their Respected mobile suits. When they started up, Matthew appeared on the screen. "But what about what he said?" He asked.

Jordan sighed. "We cant worry about that now." he said. "Right now, the ship and our friends are in danger. We gotta go _now._"

Matthew nodded and closed the connection. He was first to launch. "Matthew Takeo, Shadow Scythe Gundam, Let's cut e'm up!" and he then launched forward.

Jordan was next, and he went down the list of Packs. "Well, I've tried the Buster and Duel packs…" he said. "Let's try this Blitz pack."

With that, a Trikeros unit, along with a Sniper rifle holstered on the back were equippted, along with the activation of the suit's Mirage Colloid system.

I smiled. _Time to fight fire with fire. _I thought. "Jordan Takeo, Katana Gundam, Let's rock and roll!"

_Meanwhile, Back with Ryu and Garcia_

Garcia paled further and he tried to scramble away from the Dragon "P-p-please, h-h-have m-mercy." Garcia pleaded desperately on his knees.

That was the final straw for Ryu as the crystal exploded in his mind causing Garcia to whimper in fear when he saw Ryu's eyes change "Mercy?" Ryu questioned in a dark voice "Did you give mercy to Yuna when she pleaded for you _not_ to rape her? Did you give mercy to those who refused to cater to your sick desires?"

Garcia trembled as John stalked forward his rage building to massive proportions "Would you have given mercy to the innocent civilians aboard the Archangel after you had gotten what you wanted." He asked, Garcia desperately nodded his head trying to avoid getting killed only to stop when a bullet whizzed past his ear "No you wouldn't have." Ryu growled "Be glad though, I won't kill you," Garcia breathed a sigh of relief only to pale further at Ryu's next words "I`ll just make sure you don`t hurt another person like you hurt Yuna." With that said Ryu took aim and fired right at the point that made Garcia a man and removed it with a single shot making Garcia howl in pain as Ryu began to walk away only for the Hanger exit to collapse from an explosion.

Looking about quickly Ryu quickly spotted a mobile suit with a Gunbarrel pack on the back and quickly jumped in and made adjustments to the OS so that he could pilot it properly, though he did make sure to save the original OS for later analysis _'This is a variant of the Patriot series used by the Junk Guild, and Terminal,_' Ryu quickly realized '_How did Garcia get his hands on this?'_ Pushing away that line of thought Ryu quickly tore out of the hanger hoping that he could make it to the Archangel.

_Meanwhile _

Kira grunted as her suit collided with the inner wall of the base after a particularly nasty kick from the Duel '_This is not good,_' she thought to herself '_My suit is definitely better at close combat with the Sword Striker unit, but I lose maneuverability, the Duel however is well versed in _all_ types of combat focusing on maneuverability._' Ducking a slash from the beam saber and countered by swinging her massive Anti-ship sword at the waist of the Duel only form him to dance out of the way. '_Not to mention that my sword is bulky and large, good for ships, but not so good for Mobile Suits._' Sighing she quickly dodged several shots from the Duel and threw her beam boomerang and followed up with her rocket anchor.

However, the Duel managed to dodged both weapons, and moved in closer. Kira raised her sword again, but the duel caught the tip of the sword with his hands. It then drew it's own beam saber, and sliced the Strike's Schwert Gewehr in half by cutting it from behind.

"Shit!" Kira yelled as she backed away from the duel with the loss of her primary weapon.

Then a series of beams passed though the two, forcing the duel back. The two turned to see where the beams came from, but nothing was there.

Suddenly, the Duel lurched backwards unnaturally as the Katana materialized from seemingly thin air after the kick it delivered to the duel.

"Kira, you alright?" Jordan asked, his face appearing on the screen.

"I'm fine, where's Ryu?" Kira asked, worried.

"Don't worry, last me and Matt left him he was about to have a…talk with Garcia." He grinned at the end, giving Kira the hint, and she smiled.

"It seems you need a weapon, Kira." Jordan said as he disconnected the Trikeros unit off his Blitz pack. "Here, use this." He said as he handed her the Trikeros.

"What about you?" She asked, accepting it. Jordan grinned.

"This suit isn't called the Katana for nothing, Kira." He said as he drew out his Katana swords. "And I still got Mirage Colloid, and a sniper rifle too. So don't worry. You move on ahead, I'll deal with the Duel."

Kira nodded as she flew off attaching the Trikeros to the Strike and started cutting through the station defenders.

_With Ryu_

Ryu groaned as he spotted three mobile suits approaching the Hanger, two CGUE DEEP arms, one gold and one black, and the last one was a familiar Green-red custom CGUE "Well, well," he drawled catching the attention of the three mobile suits "Look who it is, Mark Cadillac, the Samurai of Junius Seven. It's been awhile, ZAFT finally decide that Creuset wasn't good enough for me?"

"_Something like that,_" Mark chuckled as he drew out his custom Katana "_where is the G-weapon you where piloting?_"

"Ahh, thought I'd give those two a handicap for this battle." Ryu joked with a small grin "So, how shall we do this?"

"_Jacques, Naleen continue the mission,_" Mark ordered as he and Ryu began to circle each other with Ryu drawing out his beam saber "_I'll deal with the Dragon._"

"_Yes sir._" Naleen confirmed as both she and Jacques boosted towards the Artemis base hanger.

"Let's go!" Ryu shouted in challenge as he slammed his saber against Mark's katana both of them grinning widely as they continued to exchange blows only for the other to dodge or block the shot. Separating the two brought up their respective long range weapons and exchanged fire with each other never landing anything outside of a glancing blow. Grinning Ryu activated the Wired Gunbarrels on his suit and started opening fire on Mark with both his Gunbarrels and his machinegun forcing Mark to do nothing but evade as Ryu rained the blows upon him.

Suddenly switching Tactics Ryu switched his Rifle to his shield hand and drew out his Beam saber with his remaining hand and recalled the Gunbarrels and clashed swords with the Green CGUE once more only for Ryu to aim his rifle at the CGUE's head forcing Mark to break off the power struggle or be crippled "_I see your skills haven't dulled that much Ryu._" Mark commented as they started circling once more.

Ryu chuckled "Since when does a soldiers skills truly dull?" Ryu mused with a smirk "After all when you have something you wish to protect..."

"_That is when you find true strength!_" Mark finished with a grin as he clashed swords once more with Ryu "_I still remember that day when we first fought._"

Ryu's laugh was full of mirth as he ducked under a slash and returned the favour with a kick to the CGUE's gut "I was the Idealistic Fool."

"_While I was the Insane Idiot._" Mark added with his own laugh as he recovered from the kick and fired his Shields vulcans at Ryu who also dodged as well "_I learned quite the lesson from you that day._"

They both laughed as they once again crashed their swords together enjoying the pure test of skill with each other.

_With Matthew_

"_I like this weapon,_" Kira stated as she fired the Trikeros beam rifle at another base mobile armor "_Hey Jordan, is it ok if I can permanently attach it to the Strike._"

"_Go Right ahead!_" Jordan said as he clashed with the Duel again. "_There are still plenty of spare Trikeros units for the Blitz pack. Besides, I think it suits you!_"

Liz chuckled as she flipped from mobile armor to suit mode as the last of the defenders began to flee "_Archangel the path is clear._" She said over the radio "_And it seems that Kira found a new toy to play with._" She added with a laugh.

Matthew sighed as he shook his head at the pairs banter, he chuckled as the pair continued to joke with each other. He realized that this was Kira's way of holding off the shock from her first kills and left it be until they landed. He actually did a similar thing when he first went into combat. Suddenly his proximity alarm went off and reacting on pure instinct he barely managed to dodge a sword strike from a black CGUE DEEP arms while the Strike and the Zephyr dodged sniper fire from a golden one. "_Shit, it's those same color schemes on those units from Heliopolis_." Jordan said.

_"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these the pilots that Ryu advised we do __not__ engage?"_ Chris asked rhetorically as Flay gave a small scream when he threw the Raven into mobile armor mode hoping to put some distance between him and the Black CGUE.

"_So Ryu warned you of use huh?_" A light, joking Feminine voiced asked "_I'm flattered that he thinks so highly of us._"

"_Hn,_" Jacques Grunted as he missed the Raven again "_Don't see why he warned them, they are fairly skilled._"

"_Umm, thank you?_" Liz said in confusion as she rolled into her armor form and fired a volley of missiles at Jacques forcing him to back off from his pursuit of the Raven followed up by the Strike coming down with and overhead slash only to be forced to break off or be shot at from Naleen's sniper.

_With Chris and Flay_

_Come on, just go away!_ Chris thought as he swung at the Blitz again. He and Flay then heard an eerie howl, and saw the Predator fly out through a massive explosion.

"Kira, I heard you had some problems, everything okay?" Sebastian said flying toward the two machines.

"Yeah, I'm good. I've got Flay with me as well. We're both okay" Chris responded.

"That's good, now let's get out of here," He then noticed the Blitz, "Ah, I see you met Nicol. I trust you had something to do with the attack?"

"I might have", Nicol said. _Sebastian knows the Raven pilot? _

"Chris, the ship's getting ready to leave, take Flay back. I'll be with you in a few minutes" Sebastian said.

"Uh, yeah sure," Chris said, and the Raven flew back to the _Archangel_. And so Predator and Blitz were face to face once again.

"Sebastian please, come back to us", Nicol pleaded, "We can speak to my dad, he can help drop the treason charges."

"I told you earlier, Nick. Things have happened that have forced me to leave", Sebastian cut him off "I'm committed to this course, and I can't go back".

"Then in that case, next time I see you, I'll have no choice but to shoot you down," Nicol said sadly, "Good-bye Sebastian."

"Good-bye, Nicol", Sebastian replied, and Predator returned to the _Archangel_, as the majestic ship sailed out of the doomed base.

_Meanwhile_

The five rookies and Matthew did their best against the deadly pair and the Duel, and to their luck the three vets were still not used to their new suits thus keeping them on a somewhat even playing level when the Archangel thankfully appeared guns blazing on the three enemy suits forcing them to retreat "_I never thought I would be this thankful to see that ship._" Kira admitted as they made their way to the Archangel and was supported by a course of agreements from Chris, Liz, Sarah, Jordan, and Matthew as they boarded.

_With Ryu_

Ryu groaned as his rifle made the wonderful sound of clicking indicating that his gun was empty while he had no spare clips left. The spinning of Mark's vulcans indicated that he was running on empty as well as no bullets were coming out. To add to their pleasure both of their suits were screaming an alarm that their suits were running on empty as well. "Looks like it's another draw." Ryu stated as they started drifting away from each other.

Mark sighed "_Looks like it,_" he agreed than spotted Yzak, Naleen and Jacques fleeing the battlefield "_That's my cue to leave._"

With one final salute to each other the pair both sped off making their way to their respective flagships. Landing on the Archangel just as the Artemis base exploded with one final spectacular explosion Ryu braced himself to the interior of the hanger as the ship rocked. Once it was over he disembarked and greeted a depressed Kira "Let me guess, first kill?" Ryu asked concerned when Kira nodded he drew her into a hug "You're not a monster Kira," he soothed gently as they floated along "You did what was necessary to protect yourself and our friends," he smiled at her "Let's get you into a shower and then I'll give you a back massage, how does that sound?"

"Sounds wonderful." she said with a slight smile as she linked arms with him and made their way to their room smiling as he described his fight and past with his 'rival' so to speak. As Ryu gave her his promised massage after he forced her to eat something she smiled "Thank you Ryu." She whispered quietly drifting off to sleep.

Smiling Ryu kissed her forehead and drew the covers over her "Your welcome Kira." He said before going to his desk and activating his terminal and putting in a series of upgrade requests to the Gundams and the new Patriot Zero that Mu would pilot once the OS was perfected "I swear Kira, I will make sure you and our friends remain safe," he whispered to himself "No matter what."

_Meanwhile_

Chris exited the cockpit and slid down the wire. Flay clinging to him tightly. He saw Sebastian exit Predator, a sorrowful look on his face. Out of concern for the Storm Wolf, he went over to him.

"Are you okay?" Chris asked uneasily. He was surprised to see Sebastian, silent tears running down his face.

"No, not really," Sebastian's voice cracked, "But nothing a warm shower, a meal, and a nap can't fix." Wiping the tears out of his eyes, "I saw you get out of the cockpit with Flay. Is she alright?"

"She was a little scared when it happened, but for the most part, I'd say yeah. I'd say she'll at least talk to me without trying to kill me."

Sebastian gave a small laugh, "Every little bit helps. I'll talk to you later."

"What was his problem?" Flay asked, coming up beside Chris.

"You know that mobile suit we were facing inside Artemis?" Chris replied, "That was Sebastian's best friend, he was like a little brother to him, something happened that forced Sebastian to leave ZAFT, and now they're on opposite sides."

"Oh, no!" Flay said, hands to her face.

"Ya, it's really sad. But at least the know that they won't _try _to kill each other in battle" said Chris, eyes downcast. He then received a surprise, as Flay gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek, "Not that I'm complaining, but what was _that_ for?"

"To say thanks for standing up for me, and protecting me, and also to help you feel better" Flay said, a slight rosy tone in her cheeks.

"Thanks, friends?" Chris said, holding out his hand.

"Friends" Flay said, returning the gesture, and heading to the cafeteria.

_Well, it's a start_, Chris thought, and he hurried to catch up to Flay.

**117Jorn: Sorry I'm late. Are we ready?**

**Miguel: Uhh, the episode's over.**

**117Jorn:…WHAT!**


	9. Mecha Page 2

Model number: YFX-200  
Code name: CGUE DEEP Arms Jacques Maddox Custom  
Unit type: experimental custom mobile suit  
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso  
Armor materials: unknown  
Power plant: ultra compact energy battery, power output rating unknown  
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown, Heat and sound dampeners, Radar absorbent Materials  
Fixed armaments: 2 x JDP8-MSY0270 directed thermal energy cannon, mounted on shoulders; 2 x NOL-Y941 heavy laser sword, stored on hips, hand-carried in use.  
**Optional armaments: **MMI-XM17 experimental 37.5mm hyper-velocity rifle  
**Colors:** Completely Black

Model number: YFX-200**  
**Code name: CGUE DEEP Arms **Naleen Lynn Custom  
**Unit type: experimental custom mobile suit  
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso  
Armor materials: unknown  
Power plant: ultra compact energy battery, power output rating unknown  
Equipment and design features: **Enhanced** sensors, range unknown, High powered sniper camera, mounted in forehead, uncovered in use  
Fixed armaments: 2 x JDP8-MSY0270 directed thermal energy cannon, mounted on shoulders; Prototype Beam Sniper Rifle  
**Colors**: Completely Gold

Model number: ZGMF-515**  
**Code name: CGUE **Mark Cadillac Custom  
**Unit type: experimental custom mobile suit  
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso  
Armor materials: unknown  
Power plant: ultra compact energy battery, power output rating unknown  
Equipment and design features: **Enhanced** sensors, range unknown, High powered sniper camera, mounted in forehead, uncovered in use  
Fixed armaments: Custom Katana with an anti beam coating mounted on left hip, hand carried in use; M7070 shield-plus-28mm vulcan system, mounted on left arm  
**Colors**: Green with Red trimming

**Model number:**TMSF-081RWG  
**Code name: **Patriot Zero  
**Unit type:** all-purpose multi-mode mobile suit  
**Accommodation:** Pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso  
Armor materials: unknown  
**Power plant:** Ultra compact energy battery, power output rating unknown  
**Equipment and design features:** Sensors, range unknown  
**Fixed Armaments**: 2 x 65mm multi barrel CIWS mounted in head  
1 x 'Collarent' Beam Saber, mounted on left shoulder, hand carried in use  
4 x Wired Beam Gunbarrel, mounted on back, Deployed in use  
**Optional fixed Armaments**: Shield mounted on left forearm  
**Optional Armaments:** 1 x 80mm M10 "Baracuda" rifle, clip fed, 20 rounds in clip, 2 extra clips stored in shield  
**Colors:** Light blue with red Chest and trim  
**AN**: Looks like the RGM-79C GM Kai with the space deployment colors but has the Gunbarrel Dagger pack on it`s back

All of these suits belong to Dragonknightryu


	10. Phase 7: Bloody Valentine

**117Jorn:** So, your saying that you _never _really liked your title as the 'Magic Bullet of Dusk?'

***Orlo is continuously saying 'Hey Miguel'***

**Miguel:** Ya, well, the reason I don't is because of this one Christmas Morning when this Raccoon…Dammit Orlo, what the hell do you want!

**Orlo:** Guess what?

**Miguel:** What?

**Orlo:** WE'RE IN SPACE!

_Archangel, Hallway_

Flay sighed to herself as she walked through the halls of the Archangel reflecting on the recent events that had happened in the last few days, first they had been attacked at Heliopolis by ZAFT, then chased for days by said ZAFT forces and when they had finally had a chance to catch their breath at Artemis base they were double crossed by the base commander, had Chris dragged her into the cockpit of the Raven with him who knows what would of happened. She had gained a bit more respect for the pilots of the Archangel after experiencing the dogfight that had erupted during the escape, she had never been so scared, but somehow knowing that Chris was behind the controls reassured her that she would be fine. Also after seeing Kira and Sebastian in their depressed states opened her eyes to how alike Coordinators were to Naturals, unlike what the propaganda said Coordinators were not unfeeling monsters but could be kind and caring people. Artemis had also opened her eyes to the evil that Naturals carry as well.

She stopped at the door to Ryu and Kira's room and hesitated for a minute before knocking on the door "Just a minute!" She heard Kira's voice float through before the door opened a couple of seconds later with Kira standing there dressed in shorts and a slightly large T-shirt "Oh, Flay what is it?"

"I-uh, I just wanted to say thank you for all you've done," Flay stuttered out "You all have done a lot for us and yesterday made me realize that coordinators aren't as bad as the media makes them out to be."

Kira blinked at Flay with the classic 'deer caught in the headlights' look "Uhh, thank you Flay," she began hesitantly before she gave a soft smile "That means a lot, thanks for telling me that Flay. How are you feeling by the way?" Kira asked as she stepped back and made a 'come in' gesture inviting Flay into the room "I mean with everything that has been going on."

Flay smiled as she entered the room and sat down on Kira's bed as Kira moved around getting dressed "I've been doing fine, still a little shocked though at all that has happened."

"Tell me about it," Kira said empathetically "I never thought that I would end up playing tag with against ZAFT elites in an advanced prototype warship piloting a mobile suit. Although I do have one thing to be thankful about all this though." She admitted with a bright smile.

"What's that?" Flay asked curiously.

Kira grinned at the redhead "I'm with Ryu now," she stated "I've had a crush on him since the day he started working with Professor Kato, and well since then I've grown to admire him, he is content with who he is, he admits his flaws and uses his strengths to their fullest." She gave a small giggle "Not to mention he knows when to relax and when to be serious, it doesn't hurt that he's pretty cute too."

Flay sighed "I hope that _I_ can someone like that." She admitted.

"What about Sai?"

Flay shook her head "Don't get me wrong, Sai is a very nice guy, it's just, I don't feel that connection." She said slightly depressed.

Kira sat down beside Flay and rubbed her back and smiled reassuringly "Don't worry, just have some faith," she advised "I'm sure you'll find the right person for yourself."'_Besides he might be closer than you think._' She added to herself "C'mon, I need some coffee and Ryu asked me to help him oversee the upgrades to the mobile suits, wanna come?"

Flay smiled and nodded as the two of them stood up and left the room heading to the cafeteria.

OoOoOo

Archangel Hanger:

"A.R.C?" Ryu asked as me and Matthew finally showed him the strange glowing power sorce of the Katana and Shadow Scythe. "Ya." I said. "That's what the Initials spell out. Advance, Reactor, Core. I asked Murdock about it, and he was just as clueless." Matthew nodded.

"But there's something bugging us." I said. "What?" Ryu asked. "Well," Matthew said. "When we got the Katana and Shadow Scythe, it was in a separate room from the other Gundams were in, it was in the same room as the Akuma." I turned my head to face him.

"So I asked Matthew, Why were these three Gundam's alone separate from the others?" That's when it dawned on Ryu as his eyes widened. "Unless all three machines had one of these things." He finished. "Right." I said. "Meaning there is more than a good chance that the Akuma is also equipped by one of these A.R.C's." I leaned on his back against the Katana.

"Who knows what Zaft will do if they get that tech." Matthew said. "All we can hope is that its nothing Stupid." Ryu said. I nodded as I closed the engine on the Katana. We then got back to working on the Mobile suits.

Ryu sighed as he eyed the current problem in front of him in the form of a stubborn mobile suit that refused to cooperate, he had been up all night working on the Strike, Katana, Shadow Scythe, the other G-Weapons, and their newest addition the TMSF-081RWG Patriot Zero upgrading them and running general maintenance on them with the maintenance crews watching in some kind of reverent awe, now he was working on his personal mobile sit the Dragon. He took a deep breath, "YOU STUPID ASS MORONIC RUSTED HUNK OF JUNK!" he shouted giving the Dragon a swift kick "HERE I AM TRYING TO UPGRADE YOU AND MAKE YOU EVEN BETTER WHILE _YOU_ ARE REFUSING TO COOPERATE WITH ME! DON'T YOU WANT TO BE THE EPITOME OF BADASSNESS!"

"Jeez, Calm down Ryu!" Jordan yelled back. "Even I don't get that frustrated." Ryu glared back at me, and Jordan raised my hands in defeat. "Fine, yell all ya want." Jordan said.

"Does he usually get that Crazy?" Matthew asked.

Jordan shrugged. "Only on day's he's _really _tired."

That was the scene that Kira and Flay walked into when they entered the hanger with the regular crews cowering in fear as Ryu began to hit the mobile suit with a wrench with a sadistic smile on his face, Matthew looking wide-eye in disbelief, and Jordan just shaking his head. Flay gave Kira a worried glace as Kira sighed and rolled her eyes "Every single time he pulls an all-nighter," she mutter before shouting "RYU! COFFEE!"

Ryu froze and stared at Kira with a borderline worshipping look before he broke the world record for the 50 meter dash grabbing the coffee "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" He kept repeating hugging Kira whole rolled her eyes again and lightly smacked his head with a grin.

"You're welcome, now please stop scaring everyone." She requested with a giggle as he separated himself from Kira with a grin and motioned for them to follow.

Picking their way through the spare parts and equipment the littered the hanger Ryu led them over to where the Strike was docked "Now as you can see we have permanently mounted the Trikeros unit to the Strike, as per your request we kept the color the same, we have also added a katana for close combat and when your suit is out of power, it's coated with an Anti-Beam Alloy so don't worry about clashing with beam weapons with it." He explained before leading them over to the Striker packs bay "I've also managed to create some new striker packs with the equipment we have on board, the Sniper Striker has a Mirage Colloid and enhanced radar with it, while the Aqua Strike has enhanced sonar and several torpedo launchers for underwater combat and last but certainly not least is the Gunbarrel Striker pack, it comes equipped with Beam Gunbarrels and me and Mu will give you a crash course later when we have a chance."

Kira blinked as she looked over all of the striker packs "Wow, you did this in one night with limited resources?" She asked amazed.

Ryu chuckled "Not really no, Johanna already had some of the base work laid out, I just put it together and gave them a few tweaks." He admitted. "The Raven, Slash and Zephyr received hard-points to mount weapons from the striker packs and some additional weapons, the Raven now has a missile armament, the Zephyr has a pair of Gatling Cannons, and the Slash has a pair of Rail guns on it's hips." Ducking under a stray piece of equipment Ryu started making his way to the Katana and Shadow Scythe where Matthew and Jordan met them, with Jordan talking to Matthew.

"…And that's how I knew the DNA evidence was tampered with." He said.

"Jordan, what does that have to do with Mobile suits?" Matthew asked. He shrugged as Ryu walked towards them.

"Also, We've made a few requested Upgrades to the Katana and Shadow Scythe as per Matthew and Jordan's Request." Ryu continued. "First off, the Shadow Scythe has been given two Chest concealed 78mm Beam Gatling cannons, and it's Scythe has been modified to project not one, but _two _beams." He then moved towards the Katana where Jordan sat on it's foot grinning.

"Lastly is a new Katana pack Jordan requested." Ryu said. "He wanted to emphasize the meaning of the Katana, so what we did is take two of the spare Boomerages from the Sword Striker, and mount them onto the Katana's shoulders. And also, We took two Schwerz Grewhder swords, and completely remodeled them into two weapons of Jordan's design." He then gestured to Jordan who hopped off the Katana's foot and then he pointed to a pair of large swords lying next to the Katana. "May I present the MMI-600 'Dauntless' Anti-Ship Swords." He said. "What make's them different from the Schwerz Grewher sword on the Strike is that they have three new features. One: they, like the swords on the Katana, can combine to form a duel-bladed sword. Two: they can also combine to form one single sword that can cut clean through a Nazca if I wanted It two. And finally, three: They can function underwater."

Kira blinked at this fact. "Underwater?" she repeated. "But I thought it was impossible for beams to function underwater!"

Jordan chuckled. "As Mu would say, I've found a way to make the Impossible possible." He said as Jordan gave Ryu a high-five. "It really wasn't that hard to figure out how." Jordan said. "It's all in the energy output really. Anyways, I've named the new pack: The Katana Knight Pack."

"Katana knight pack?" Kira repeated, raising an eyebrow. Jordan just shrugged. "It sounds cool to me." He said.

Ryu then made his way back to the Dragon and Predator. "As per Sebastian's request, we gave his Predator a spare Katana sword like the one we mounted on the Strike." Ryu said. "As For the Dragon I'm only doing some basic stuff like upgrading the wiring and tweaking the reactor a bit to increase the power, mostly experimental stuff that I want to test before using it with your guy's mobile suit."

Stepping up to the open panel of the Dragon that he was working at earlier he downed the last of the coffee "And that pretty much sums up the upgrades, be sure to go over your OS and make sure that it's up to speed with the upgrade," he gave Kira a quick peck on the cheek "Thanks for the coffee."

Kira gave him a sunny smile before walking away with Flay whose head was spinning at all the information that she just received. Ryu sighed and turned back to the Dragon "Are you ready to cooperate now?" he asked the suit and could of swore that it somehow smirked at him, or was the lack of sleep affecting him?

_Later_

Matthew walked down the Corridors of the Archangel. Since they lost Zaft for the moment, he could finally get a chance to think things out. _A lot of things have happen in the last few days. _He thought as he reached the observation deck.

As he looked out into space, his first thoughts were his Brother. One of his hopes was that, by Joining Zaft, he could somehow keep his Brother out of all of the fighting. Because he saw that if the Plant's win the war, there would be peace.

_Look where that got us. _He thought. _Jordan's fighting now, our Parents…or at least the Parents we knew are dead on Kane's hands…_

Kane.

The very name of that Psychopath clenched his fists. He didn't even hesitate to kill their Parents. He always had bad vibes from Kane ever since he met him, the same Vibes he got off of Rau Le Cruset.

He was relieved that he acted when he did. If he hadn't intervened…he didn't even want to think about it.

The next thing on his mind was what Garcia had told him and Jordan. _Could we of had a Father we never knew about? _He thought. _It could have just been Garcia pleading for his life…But he didn't seem to be lying._

Matthew pushed that thought away, because it wasn't worth thinking about at the moment.

"Hey Matthew." A voice said, and Matthew turned to see Elizabeth Dante walk in.

"You…Liz, right?" Matthew said, still getting use to saying Jordan's friends names. Liz nodded. "Good to see your getting our names down." She said as she stood next to him.

"Say, can I ask you something?" Liz asked.

"Shoot."

"What can you tell me about Jordan's…feelings about Sarah?" Liz asked, looking at Matthew.

Matthew raised an eyebrow at this. "Why do you want to know?" he asked. Liz raised her hands. "No no no, nothing like that." She said. "Just…curious is all."

Matthew stared at Liz for a few seconds. "He'll probably kill me for telling you but…" Matthew said, as Liz leaned forward. "Jordan…simply loves Sarah with all his heart. But he's too scared about how Sarah would react if he just confessed his feelings about her to her."

Liz stared at Matthew in disbelief for a few moments before howling in laughter. "This…this is…This is too Perfect!" Liz said while laughing. "What are you talking about?" Matthew asked.

Liz managed to calm herself down, but she was still grinning like a mad woman. "The thing is," she said. "Sarah feels that _exact _same way! But like Jordan's she's too afraid to tell him that she loves him!"

Matthew just stared at Liz for a few moments before _he _started laughing.

Once he calmed himself down, he wiped away the tears from when he was laughing away. "Its like…something out of a bad Soap Opera." He said.

"I know, right?" Liz said. "Now that that's up, I need your help."

"You want me to help Jordan and Sarah get together?" Matthew asked, and Liz nodded.

"You are Jordan's Older Brother." She continued. "You know more about him than anyone else on the Archangel at this point. And I am Sarah's best friend. Anything she thinks about she tells me. I say, that with our combined knowledge, we find a sure-fire way for one or the other too admit their feeling to the other. It doesn't even have to be both! If we just get one or the other too pop, it's a victory!"

Matthew started grinning. "Alright," he said. "Where do we start?"

_Bridge_

"Do you want the bad news or the worse news first?" Sebastian said to Murrue.

"How about good news?" Murrue replied.

"If I had any good news, I would have told you, Lieutenant. Things are pretty bleak. Ship's provisions are running dangerously low."

"We can stretch the food supply for a while with smaller rations, but it's the water I'm worried about. Without it, we're pretty much done for" Mu said grimly.

"It didn't help that we were prevented from resupplying at Artemis," Natarle said.

"Thank the Le Creuset team for that one, they're like a pit bull, once they latch on, they don't let go" Sebastian said, "However, with all the confusion, we've got some breathing room, but not for long. They will catch up to us sooner or later."

"This will not do," said Murrue, "We need options, and we need them now."

"What's our current course?" Sebastian asked Neumann.

"This sir, it takes us pretty close to the Debris Belt, but we'll avoid most of it." Neumann said.

"Mr. Neumann, prepare to change course, bearing 315 mark 210 we're going in", Sebastian said, his voice determined.

"Are you out of your mind!" Natarle snapped, "Certainly you of all people know how dangerous the Debris Belt is!"

"I'm fully aware of how dangerous the belt is!" Sebastian snapped back, "But it's also our best chance for survival! Lieutenant, you asked for options. I'm giving you one, and right now, it's all we have. If anyone has any other ideas, I'm wide open."

"Commander Connor is right, this is our only option" said Mu, "With all the destroyed starships, there's bound to be water on a few of them, I seriously doubt the crews will mind."

"Actually Lieutenant La Flaga, the place I have in mind for us to salvage is very specific, we'll find enough water to last us to the moon, and then some."

"Mr. Neumann, follow the course," Murrue said finally.

"Yes, ma'am" the helmsman said.

"Once arrive at our destination, we best hurry, get what we need, and get out. We may have lost the Le Creuset team at Artemis, but I wouldn't be surprised if other ZAFT forces were nearby" Sebastian said.

Debris Belt

Sebastian would have laughed at his earlier statement if had known that ZAFT vessels were in fact at the very location where the _Archangel_ was headed, One of these vessel he would have immediately recognized. The _Nazca_-class battleship, _Dark Tooth_, painted in a dark brownish-gray, with mottled spots, hovered idly near the shattered remains of Junius Seven, escorted by a Lurassia class Frigate. They had been on an inspection tour as a prelude to the memorial ceremony to commemorate the one year anniversary of the disaster.

Captain Harrison Macleod, 48, stood on the darkened bridge of his ship, his standard issue black uniform melding with the shadows. While he was master of the ship, standing next to him was his superior officer, an 18 year old man wearing ZAFT commander's white , with sandy brown hair, and a sadistic gleam in his emerald green eyes. Both men were looking at the recent dispatch from ZAFT Headquarters, and the man in red gave off a scoffing laugh.

"So, the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due has hitched a ride on the Earth Forces' new ship and is flying one of their new mobile suits? My, my, my, how low we have sunk", the commander said, "And any ZAFT forces who encounter him are ordered to kill him? No problem for me, I would have done anyway. This just makes it easier. Remind me to thank Councilor Zala for the present."

Kyle Evans, the Grimaldi Hyena, commander of the Hyenas team, and self-proclaimed rival to Sebastian, sneered, "I've always known that Connor was weak, now he's proven it by joining our very enemies, I suppose it makes sense for the Natural lover to join the Naturals!"

The animosity between the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due and the Grimaldi Hyena had extended to their respective teams as well. Even though they had been on the same side, it was a given that if they had all been left in a room together, there would have been 28 dead bodies when it was all said and done, because they would have gone out of their way to kill each other.

"The Le Creuset team has been tracking them since they left Heliopolis, but they lost track of them after Artemis" Macleod noted.

"Le Creuset's loss is our gain, besides if anyone's going to kill Sebastian Connor, it's going to be me!" Kyle said, "Captain Macleod, prepare to move out, we're going hunting!"

"You might want to hold off on that sir! I don't think we'll have to look far!" the radar officer called, "an unidentified vessel has entered the region, it matches the description given of the vessel the Le Creuset team was pursuing. It's got to be them!"

A sinister grin crossed Kyle's face, "Someone must really like me! Have they detected us?"

"Negative sir, the debris is wreaking havoc on our radar. It was by chance I saw them. I don't know how good their radar is, but if they had detected us, they would have done something by now, and it's just cruising along."

"Move us into the Debris Belt and power down. Let's see what the Storm Wolf and his Natural friends are up to. We'll wait until they pass by, and then we blow them out of the sky! Game over, Storm Wolf!"

_Archangel_, Bridge

The _Archangel_ traveled through the Debris Belt for three hours, and the whole time Sebastian never left his spot on the bridge, next to the primary view port silently staring out into space among the junked heaps, when finally."We've arrived!" Sebastian called, drawing Murrue from her chair to the Storm Wolf's side, "You wanted water, THERE'S all the water we'll need!" Murrue could hear the rising emotion in his voice.

"Excuse me for stating the obvious, but that looks like the remains of a PLANT-class colony out there" Mu said.

"You're right Lieutenant La Flaga, that's exactly what it is" Sebastian said, tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat.

"Where did you bring us, Commander?" Murrue said gently. Sebastian's reply was one choked out word, "Home."

"Home?" Natarle said, "What do you mean by home?"

"It drifted out here after the events of last year, carrying with it the 243,721 souls that went down with it, including the 107 members of my family", Sebastian said.

"Junius Seven", Murrue said, suddenly realizing.

"Exactly right, Lieutenant" Sebastian said, not bothering to hide his emotions, "This is the shattered remains of Junius Seven. All those who died are still over there I bet." Sebastian gazed at the shattered remains of the colony, and wiped the tears away, "That place has copious amounts of water, no doubt frozen due to exposure to space. What we need for ourselves won't even put a dent in its supply."

"WHAT!" nearly half the bridge shouted in disbelief while the other half simply stared at him. "Is that wise sir, we'd be desecrating the grave of millions." Natarle blurted out in shock.

Sebastian sighed "Yes I know it would be, but we need that water if we are to make it the rendezvous with Halberton alive." He stated "Do you know where else we can find Gallons of water for free?"

"Seb's got a point." Ryu stated as he walked into the bridge with a coffee in his hand "We are in a life or death situation, as much as I dislike having to do it, it is necessary right now for our survival."

"Lieutenant, as long as we're here, we should have some kind of memorial service. It would be right to pay our respects" Natarle said, even as by the book as she was, Natarle wasn't cold.

"I think that's exactly what we should do", Sebastian said, and Ryu nodded. "Now that I think of it, the official ZAFT memorial ceremony will be in another twelve days, because that will be exactly one year since the Bloody Valentine."

Murrue nodded reluctantly in agreement "That is true, Are the mobile suits ready to be launched?" she asked.

Ryu gave a sharp nod and passed her a clipboard "They are, this is a list of all the upgrades that were made," he answered "The pilots have been given copies and have reviewed them, all they need is some testing."

"Very well," she sighed "Inform the pilots to get ready to launch, your objective is to protect the Mistrals as they gather the necessary amount of ice that we need."

Ryu, Sebastian and Mu both saluted and coursed "Yes ma'am." Turning they exited the bridge and started making their way to the rec room that the pilots spend their spare time at.

"Are you sure your okay with doing this Guys?" Mu asked cautiously "You can sit this out if you need to."

Ryu and Sebastian both shook their heads "No it's alright." Ryu answered "It'll be a bit troublesome but I can deal with it."

"And I've already seen it." Sebastian said. "Nothing new. I should know."

Mu nodded in acceptance before he grinned "So how are things going with the little lady?" he asked suddenly making Ryu blink before smiling softly.

"It's going good." He said in a soft voice before stopping and looking out of a view port leaning against a railing "It's funny, I feel more of a connection to her than I ever did to Yuna." He turned and looked at Mu "Loosing Yuna was hard Mu, But if I lose Kira..." he trailed off unable to finish the sentence.

Mu nodded gravely and placed a hand on Ryu's shoulder "You won't lose her kid," he reassured with a grin "Especially if you're the one protecting her."

"Damn straight." Sebastian said as he patted his back.

Ryu smirked at the two and they both started making their way to the rec room. Upon entering they saw Chris in the workout area running through a martial art kata, Kira and Sarah where sitting on the comfy chairs gossiping with each other, Matthew was talking to Liz, both of them grinning making Ryu suspicions, but he ignored it, while Jordan was just looking at the Music Player trying to find a good song to play.

"Pilots listen up!" Ryu called out getting the six pilots attention "We will be launching soon to collect resources from the debris belt, most notably water, the only thing is we have to collect the water from the remains of Junius Seven." He paused at the gasps from the pilots.

"Are you sure, you guys? That's a gravesite, it would be wrong," Sarah said.

"Sarah, as a son of Junius Seven, I know for a fact that this is what they would want. All we're taking is enough water for us to survive. If my family was alive and we had told them about our situation, they wouldn't have just given us water, they would have insisted on feeding us as well. Grammy always had to be sure I was eating right" Sebastian grinned.

"Liz, Chris, Jordan, Matthew I can understand if you wish to sit this one out." Ryu said.

Chris shook his head "No, We are low on pilots already and if we sit this one out and we're attacked than we won't be as prepared." He said with Liz nodding in agreement.

"Besides I think we need closure," Liz agreed "So we'll be launching as well."

Jordan glanced at Matthew, who nodded. "We'll go out too." He said. "We're fine."

"Though, sir." Matthew said. "When we launch…their something I need to do."

Ryu nodded in acceptance "Very well, Matthew, you can. Just be sure to take Jordan or one of the others with you. we'll be acting as scouts and guards for the mission making sure that we aren't surprised if pirates or ZAFT, if you do see signs of them DO NOT engage, report back and keep hidden while we determine if they are a threat or not, if they are making hostile actions towards our area or if they spot us than you have permission to engage."

The six nodded and Mu, Sebastian, Liz, Chris, Sarah, Jordan and Matthew left leaving Ryu and Kira alone. "Are you okay?" Kira asked quietly as she wrapped her arms around his waist as he wrapped his around her shoulders "You seem tense and worried."

Ryu sighed deeply "I'm worried," he admitted honestly touching his forehead to Kira's "I don't know what would happen to me if I lost you as well."

Kira smiled reassuringly at him and place a hand on his cheek "You won't lose me Ryu," she stated "because I don't want to lose you either." Kira pulled away slightly to look at him better "So long as we watch each other's backs we'll be just fine."

Ryu smiled gratefully at her "Yeah, yeah I guess you're right." He admitted before he lent in and kissed her "What would I ever do without you?"

Kira giggled "You'd probably become a crotchy old war vet with a chip on his shoulder." She retorted making him laugh "C'mon, we better go get ready."

_Dark Tooth_, Bridge

"Status of the legged ship?" Kyle asked.

"It's come to a full and complete stop near the colony," The radar officer reported, "they're launching shuttles and they're heading down to the colony."

"What are they up to?" Macleod said.

"Harrison, you're guess is as good as mine. Not that I really care at all" Kyle said.

"Sir wasn't Commander Connor from Junius Seven?" the communications officer asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Kyle asked.

"The reason we're here is to inspect the colony remains in preparation for the memorial in two weeks. It could be just as simple as Commander Connor wanting to pay his respects to his home."

"Likely, but there's got to be something more to it than just that. They wouldn't have come specifically here without a reason" Kyle said.

"Shall we move to intercept?" asked Captain Macleod.

"No, let's see what Connor and his little Natural friends are up to first" said Kyle.

_Archangel_, Bridge

The salvage operation had gone off without any problems, but the tense feeling still remained. The salvage crews had returned to the Archangel, and were now all present on the bridge, in readiness for a small memorial to the people of Junius Seven.

Sebastian, Mu, and surprisingly, Flay of all people, were now in a shuttle hovering fifty meters ahead of the _Archangel's_ bow. Flay held in her arms a collection of paper flowers that the crew and refugees made, she let them go and they spread out through space.

"May we remember all those who died on February 14th, C.E. 70" Sebastian said in a solemn voice, "They will never be forgotten, NEVER!" and with that, Sebastian drew his gun, and fired a single shot. He then drew his blade and saluted with it, "Love you, mom and dad" Sebastian added quietly. Flay turned her helmeted head to the Storm Wolf and offered a sympathetic gaze, and put her hand on Sebastian's shoulder.

"Lieutenant Ramius, I know I said that I wanted to get in and out, but it occurred to me that I left some personal effects at my old house, seeing how that I'm here, I'd like to request permission to go and retrieve them. I won't take long."

"Very well, Commander Connor, but be quick" said Ramius.

"Flay, we'll take you back to the ship, although I will need Lieutenant La Flaga to come with me" Sebastian said.

"Wait," Flay said, "I'd really like to come along. I-I want to see where you lived."

"Your call" Mu said, Sebastian considered this for a moment, before finally giving a brief nod."

"Fair enough, Flay. You can come" said Sebastian, "Although there isn't really much left to my home. _Archangel_, we'll be back in ten." And the shuttle raced off towards the colony debris.

_With Jordan And Matthew_

The Katana and Shadow Scythe flew across the repaints of Junius seven. I almost couldn't stand it. Everywhere I looked…I saw bodies floating around…men…women…Children…

The children alone made me want to hurl. Ever since that day the Colony was first destroyed, I thought…how could people do this? How can humanity hate each other so much too commit such an act of hate. Just because our genes were different. Just the thought of it made me sick.

"_Jordan, you alright?_" Matthew asked on the Comm. "_You look alittle pale._"

I smiled grimly back at him. "I'm…fine Matt." I said. "Just…I just cant…"

"_You don't have to say it._" Matthew said. "_If you want…you can-_"

"Matt, I'm fine." I said, cutting him off. "I can do this."

Matthew nodded. "So, exactly what are we doing here?" I asked.

"Hang on, we're almost there." Matthew said, not really answering my question.

The Shadow Scythe suddenly landed in front of one of the numerous houses. Oddly, there wasn't as many floating bodies around here. A thing I was happy for.

I landed the Katana next to the Shadow Scythe just as Matthew exited the cockpit, carrying one of the Paper flowers that were made.

When I exited the Cockpit, I stood next to Matthew as he stared at the house we landed in front of.

"I'm back." Matthew said suddenly. I looked at him, wondering what he meant.

"I know that…I'm a little late Kelsey…" He said, his grip tightening on the flower. "And…I couldn't tell you how I…" At that point, I could see tears forming in his eyes, as they floated within his helmet.

That was when it hit me, and my eyes widened.

"Kelsey I just…I know that nothing will add up to how I failed." Matthew continued. "I failed to save you, your Family, and every other citizen of Junius 7…I just…I hope you can forgive me…please."

Matthew then walked up towards the house, and placed the Flower on the porch of the house. "Kelsey…I love you." He said, and he walked away and faced me.

"Matt…I…" I tried to say something, anything to help my Older brother…but honestly, what could I have said?

"This Is why you _need _to tell her how you feel, Jordan." Matthew said as he headed towards the Shadow Scythe. "Because if you don't…you may never get the chance."

Matthew boarded the Shadow Scythe, and took off, while I simply stood there, thinking about what had just happened.

_Junius Seven Remains._

The shuttle flew on just above the streets of the shattered colony. The three passengers were silent during the trip. Mu was piloting, and Sebastian was leaning back in his chair, eyes closed, this scene is far from new to him. Flay could only look out the window and see the debris floating in zero gravity. She saw a body, and then another, and another, soon they were all over the place. With each deceased body, each extinguished life, Flay's anti-Coordinator sentiments dissolved further.

_This is wrong_, Flay thought, _Coordinator or not, no one here deserved this fate._ She began to cry softly, cry for those that had needlessly lost their lives due to fear and prejudice.

"Is it sinking in?" a steady voice said, Flay noticed one of Sebastian's eyes was open, a small, sad smile on his face.

"It's so wrong," Flay said, "all these people, dead just like that."

"Imagine how I feel. I was here when the nuke went off. The worst part is that I could have prevented this from happening." This got both Flay and Mu's attention.

"You really mean that?" Mu said, turning around in his seat.

"Yes I do, Lieutenant La Flaga. I had the mobile armor carrying the nuke _in my sights_. I fired two seconds too late. The mobile armor was destroyed, but it was a moot point. The missile was already underway. I tried to catch it, but I was intercepted by other mobile armors. All I could do was watch as the nuke slammed into the colony…" Sebastian then saw a street sign he knew very well, _IVY LANE_, "We're close! This is my street!" Sebastian glued himself to the window. Silently thanking God for giving the distraction before his memories of the day overwhelmed them, "Here! Right here!"

Mu set down the shuttle in front of a gray stone ranch house. The three explorers stepped out and slowly approached as if it were a holy place.

"So this is where you lived?" Flay asked.

"1212 Ivy Lane. Home sweet home" Sebastian said bittersweet.

"I hate to do this, but we did promise the ship we'd hurry" Mu said, eager to just get out of there.

"What I need is in my room, you can remain here Lieutenant, keep the engines warm. Flay, you can stay here if you want or you can come with me, it's up to you."

"I'll go, I want to," Flay said, true courage in her voice. Sebastian simply extended his arm in a "let's go" gesture. The two of them walked to the cheerfully painted kelly green front door. Sebastian mustered up his strength and pushed open the door. The then stepped inside, the first sight that greeted them was the dead body of a middle aged man in his early fifties, with thinning dark brown hair that was in the middle of turning gray, Lifeless blue eyes matching Sebastian's own.

"Let me guess, your father?" Flay said, to which the Storm Wolf said nothing. He merely reached out and closed his father's eyes.

"Come on, Flay. What we need is in my room. It's at the end of the hall. Let's get what we need and get out of here."

Sebastian and Flay entered and Sebastian's room, A bookshelf lined with DVDs and old battered paperback novels sat in one corner of the room, A twin bed with tan and green bedclothes in another, dirty clothes and video game strategy guides littered the floor, a rather typical scene for any teenager.

"This is it?" Flay said, an almost disappointed tone to her voice.

"What were you expecting?" Sebastian said.

"It just seems so…normal. I was expecting something a little grander."

"Sorry to disappoint you, now there are four things I need. First, the red afghan hanging on the edge of the bed, if you may?" and Flay promptly removed it.

"This is pretty, did someone make it?" Flay asked.

"My great-grandmother, she made it by hand for me when I was six. Many a night was spent burrowed underneath it. The next thing I'm looking for is here," Sebastian opened his nightstand drawer and pulled out a small, weathered, black leather covered book, "My great-grandfather's bible. When my great-grandmother died, my grandfather passed it on to me." He then gave it to Flay, she opened it.

"It's in German", Flay said.

"I have German ancestry going back quite a bit. My great-grandfather, grandfather, and my dad all had that strong German work ethic, and it passed onto me, a good legacy to have overall. There's one more thing, and it's hovering right next to you." Flay gasped as she found herself face to face with a stuffed toy wolf floating around. Sebastian merely reached out and grabbed it from the air.

"Hey Barger, have you been a good boy?" Sebastian said to the wolf.

"You named it Barger?" Flay said incredulously, "You're talking to a stuffed animal."

"Oh come on, Flay! You probably had a ton of dolls when you were a little girl, and I bet you talked to them all to the time, am I right?" Flay's cheeks flushed slightly at Sebastian's cheeky grin, "Barger, this is Flay, say hello."

Sebastian held Barger to his face plate and moved his mouth, while saying in a falsetto voice, "rello Frey."

"Very funny," Flay said, "Is there anything else we need?"

"One more thing," Sebastian headed to a window, "That!", and pointed outside to a ZGMF-515 CGUE standing in the backyard.

"A CGUE!" Flay cried out, ready to run, but Sebastian stopped her.

"Hold on and look closer, Flay. It should be clear why a mobile suit would be here in the first place."

Flay looked closer at the machine. The CGUE was a pale gray, almost white, with a massive katana in one hand, and a large particle cannon in the other. On the left shoulder was a white wolf howling at the sky on a dark blue background, a dark cloud overhead with a lightning bolt stabbing downward behind the wolf, the unit symbol of the Storm Wolves.

"Oh my, oh Sebastian" Flay said, realization sinking in, "Of course, where else would a son of Junius Seven leave his personal machine?"

"For obvious reasons I couldn't bring it with me to Heliopolis. After I fled the PLANTS with help from the Junk Guild, they told me that they had found Junius Seven's remains, so I hid it here, a lone wolf who had lost his pack, standing guard over the shattered remains of its den."

_"Commander Connor please respond!"_ Natarle's voice broke in the com link.

"What is it Ensign?" Sebastian said.

_"We're under attack by ZAFT forces!" Natarle said, "A Nazca-class cruiser with a Lurasia-class were hiding in the debris, it was waiting for us."_

"Flay, once again I'll ask you take care of my personal effects for me, get back to the shuttle, and tell Lieutenant La Flaga to take off. I'll follow in my CGUE."

"Be safe", Flay said, taking the afghan, bible, and Barger in her arms and running out the door.

Sebastian instinctively snapped into commander mode, "Ensign, how many mobile suits?"

_"10, Nine GINNs, and a CGUE, The others are already engaging. Predator and the Zero are all set to launch but you and Lieutenant La Flaga need to get back here now!" _

"Lieutenant La Flaga and Miss Allster are on their way back as we speak. As for me needing Predator, don't worry about it! I've already got a mobile suit! You'll see a grayish-white CGUE inbound in a few moments, tag it as friendly."

"Understood, but I'll want some answers when you get back."

"You'll get them, Storm Wolf of Jachin Due out." Sebastian ran outside to see the shuttle bearing Mu and Flay already burning a path back to the _Archangel_. He then took off for his old machine. After climbing into the cockpit, Sebastian noticed the ancient looking katana, the long thin case and two ZAFT style flight suits, one red, the other white-gray, plus their corresponding helmets resting on the seat.

"Okay, old friend, time to party!" Sebastian brought the CGUE online and took off into the stars, a wolf ready for the hunt.

_Debris Belt, above J7 remains._

After watching the_ Archangel_ take on water, Kyle finally initiated an attack. Kyle, his three other surviving Hyenas, and 6 other suits from their escort ship launched. Like the Storm Wolves, the Evans team had taken heavy losses at Endymion, after which Kyle reorganized his team as a smaller unit, deciding it would less of a hassle that way. Right now, his spotted brown CGUE was engaged with the Strike as three similarly colored GINNS took on the _Archangel_ itself. The remaining GINN's were fighting the other G-Weapons.

"This pilot is good…for a Natural" Kyle remarked, "A shame that it has to end so soon! Patterson! Brisco! Arthur! Finish that ship off and let's get out of here. This may get me that promotion I've been waiting for."

"Don't bet it on it!" Mu said, having made it back to the ship, and his Mobieus Zero's wired gunbarrels blasting away at the three GINNs.

"Nice try, Mu La Flaga, but too little too late! Finish them, Arthur!"

Arthur's GINN hovered at the Bridge, ready to blast it to pieces, Murrue, Natarle and the others prepared for their fate, and then, "AURRLOOO!" The piercing cry of the sovereign of the snowy north, the gray timber wolf, rang out across space. The GINN had a massive katana sticking out of its chest. Sebastian's CGUE hurled the mobile suit out into space, where it promptly exploded.

"Sorry for the close call, _Archangel_. Don't worry, I'll take care of it from here."

"Sure as hell took ya long enough!" Ryu shouted as he cut another GINN in half.

"It's Connor!" Brisco roared, "You'll pay for what you did to Arthur!"

"Die, Storm Wolf of Jachin Due!" Patterson added, and both GINNS charged in.

Sebastian said nothing, spinning to avoid Patterson's GINN, and then slicing it in half with the katana, and then shooting his particle cannon point-blank range at Brisco's mobile suit.

"Now for the head Hyena!" Sebastian said, he rocketed toward the fight between the spotted CGUE and the Strike, he began firing a spray of shots from the cannon.

"What the?" Kyle said, and he saw the white CGUE approach and he knew who it was and he snarled, "CONNOR!"

"EVANS!" Sebastian roared, "KIRA GET CLEAR, THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND HIM! _NOW!_"

"Yes sir!" Kira said, smartly deciding not to see how pissed the ace could really get. And so the stage was set, the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due, vs. the Grimaldi Hyena, CGUE vs. CGUE.

"So Evans, we meet again. Last I heard, after Endymion, you and the other Hyenas were sent to Earth. Did you just get back?" said Sebastian in his most biting tone.

"Yeah, imagine my surprise when I heard that you had gone missing in October. They said you had died, but I had a feeling that wasn't the case. The only one that's going to kill you is me!"

"Oh please, you couldn't beat me then, you won't beat me now."

"Then let's put it to the test!" Kyle roared, and the two CGUEs locked blades like two medieval knights. The two swords silently crashed in the cold of space, neither machine getting any headway.

"You're an asshole, Evans. Always has been, always will be!" Sebastian said, "You may be a great pilot, but I'm still better!" and with that, Sebastian sliced off the arms of Kyle's CGUE in one shot.

"The rest of your team is dead, I'd love to do the same to you, but I've got other problems to deal with. So bug off, you cockbiting fucktard!"

"This isn't over Connor! Not by a long shot!" and the armless CGUE, along with the only surviving GINN flew away.

_"_Wow, that guy really hates you," Mu remarked as the Zero, Slash, Dragon, Katana, Shadow Scythe, Raven, Zephyr and the Strike, clutching an escape pod, met up with Sebastian's CGUE.

"Gentleman, that was Kyle Evans, the Grimaldi Hyena, he's the only man I hate more than Rau Le Creuset. He's the one whom I developed the insult 'cockbiting fucktard' for. He's incredibly arrogant and bigoted to the extreme against Naturals. He just missed getting redcoat status. Despite that, he's still pretty good"

"_I had my own little engagement with him once._" Ryu said with a chuckle at the end. "_Killed a good part of his squad at the time._"

"So _you're _the one that killed those guys." Sebastian said. "No wonder Kyle was so pissed."

"Let's get back to the ship, I'm beat" Mu said.

"That goes double for me," Sebastian said, "By the way, Kira. Where did that escape pod come from?"

"I found it on my way back to the ship, I didn't want to leave it behind. Even if Ensign Badgiruel disagrees" Kira said with a small laugh. And the pilots returned to the _Archangel_.

_Archangel_, Hanger

Sebastian, and the others had changed back into their uniforms, and were with the rest of the crew now gathered around the escape pod that the Strike had been brought in.

"You certainly have a talent for retrieving things others have left behind" Natarle said in an amused tone.

"Okay, I'm opening the hatch" Murdoch said, the security detail raised their rifles, and Sebastian had a hand at his blade, ready for anything, or so they thought.

The hatch opened and out floated a small pink orb the size of a baseball, flaps on his side going a mile minute and chattering constantly, "_Haro, Haro, Haro, Lacus, Haro!"_

Everyone was completely baffled at this, they all looked to Sebastian for an answer, but he was no help, he just stood there, the color had drained from his face, as if he had seen a ghost, when his eyes fell on the strange pink ball.

"Thank you! Your assistance is very much appreciated!" a sweet, melodic voice came.

"Son of a bitch!" Commander Sebastian Connor, along with Ryu Hisanaga both said simultaneously, and everyone turned to see a pink-haired teenage girl emerge.

"Oh my, thank you" she said, as her trip through mid air was halted by Kira. She then gasped in surprise as crystal blue eyes met cobalt blue ones. Her hands went to her face in shock and surprise, "It can't be! They said you died!"

"Hello angel," Sebastian said, "I know this is cliché, but the reports of my death were greatly exaggerated."

"Commander Connor, do you know who this is?" Natarle asked.

"Yes I do, Ensign. This is Lacus Clyne, my fiancé."


	11. Phase 8: Forgiveness

"Excuse me? Did you just say that this is your fiancé? You do know who she is, don't you?" Natarle said.

"Lacus Clyne, the Pink Princess of the PLANTS, daughter of PLANT Supreme Chairman Siegel Clyne, and my fiancé" Sebastian said, "So yes, I know _exactly_ who she is."

"Sebastian, is-is it really you?" Lacus said confusion and joy at the same time coloring the tones of her voice. To this, Sebastian merely took the pink-haired songstress into his arms and kissed her. The kiss in itself was soft and delicate, but it was evident how much energy emanated from it. When the two separated, Lacus was blushing slightly.

"It _IS_ you!" Lacus said, "Only you could kiss me like that."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but perhaps it would be best if we continued this discussion in my office?" Murrue said. Sebastian and Lacus turned to see everyone staring at them, an embarrassed look flashed onto Sebastian's face, and he began scratching the back of his head, and Lacus' cheeks flushed as pink as her hair.

"Uh, good idea" Sebastian said, "Lacus, come with me honey." And the Storm Wolf promptly ushered his fiancé out of the hanger.

"Chief Murdoch, you have the bridge, Jordan, Matthew, See if you can get Sarah and Liz to wake up. they fainted when Sebastian kissed Lacus." Murrue said as she pointed to Sarah and Liz who had indeed fainted and floated around the hanger unmoving.

"Ensign, Lieutenant, Ryu come with me, I have a feeling this is going to a very interesting explanation on Commander Connor's part" Murrue said.

"I have a feeling you're right" Ryu said, and the three officers and the Dragon Pilot headed for Murrue's office.

_Archangel, Captain's office._

"So you're really Chairman Clyne's daughter?" Mu asked.

"Yes, have you heard of my father?" Lacus said in a seemingly naïve tone. The Hawk of Endymion looked to Sebastian but he just sat there, his expression unreadable.

"I'm more interested in the notion that you're Commander Connor's fiancé. How did that come about?" Natarle asked.

"Sebastian, do you want to tell them right now?" Lacus said a look of concern on her face. To which the Storm Wolf shook his head.

"Ensign, what you've asked is a very personal matter between me and Lacus. Let me just say that Lacus saved my life after Junius and leave it at that. It's not something I'm ready to discuss, and if you press me further, I'll just get cranky, and when I get cranky, bad things start happening."

"Then forget I said anything", Natarle said.

"Okay sweetheart, I have a pretty good idea of why you're out here, so let me venture the guess that you were here to inspect J7's remains for a proper memorial ceremony, in eleven days, am I right?" Sebastian said.

"Yes indeed, that's exactly why I'm out here" Lacus said.

"The next question is how did you end up in that escape pod?" Ryu asked.

"After we had arrived and begun our survey, we were stopped by an Earth Alliance ship, and they insisted they send an inspection party aboard" Lacus replied.

"An inspection party?" Sebastian said, not liking the way this was sounding.

"Yes, we didn't see any harm and let them come aboard. They insisted we were a ZAFT vessel, and they began arguing with the crew. Next thing I knew, a full-blown firefight had begun. I was pushed into the escape pod, and that's the last I know, I do hope everyone's okay" Lacus replied.

_She isn't going to like this, but she has a right to know,_ Sebastian said, "Lacus, the pilot of the machine who found you reported that the _Silverwind_ was a gutted wreck. I'm sorry, angel, but it seems that you're the only survivor."

"Oh no," Lacus said, the grief clearly evident on her face, "Are you sure?"

"As sure as we can be," Sebastian said.

"You mentioned encountering a ZAFT team, what of them?" Lacus inquired.

"You wouldn't care, honey. It was the Hyenas, Kyle Evans' team", Sebastian said, and the look of grief turned to one of total disgust.

"Oh! That horrendous, lecherous pervert! You're right, forget I asked!" Lacus said, shuddering all over.

"Don't worry sweetie, I took out the last three members of his team, and sent Evans himself scurrying back to the PLANTS with his tail between his legs, he won't be bothering us for awhile" Sebastian said.

"Well Miss Clyne, I'm afraid it will be a little difficult to return you to the PLANTS at this very moment, but once we arrive at Ptolemaeus, we'll see to it that you're repatriated as soon as possible" Murrue said.

"I thank you" Lacus said simply, giving a simple nod. She then looked to her fiancé, and the Storm Wolf saw it darken, just a little bit.

"Lieutenant Ramius, I'd like to take Lacus to my quarters. I imagine she must be pretty tired and would like to get some rest."

"Of course Commander, I imagine you and your fiancé would like some time alone" said Murrue.

"Come on, Angel, I'll show you the way", and Sebastian and Lacus departed.

Shortly after, Ryu left the room after them, as soon as the door closed he was ambushed by an excited Liz _and _Sarah "Is that really Lacus Clyne?" Liz demanded as she pinned a surprised and shocked Ryu to the wall, with Sarah helping.

"Yes." He answered cautiously "It is Miss Clyne, now can you let me go I need to speak with Kira."

Liz and Sarah simultaneously squealed as they let Ryu go deteriorating into their Fangirl states making Ryu slowly back away as he searched for an escape route, spotting Kira he grabbed her and made a swift retreat around the corner leaving Chris and the others to deal with Liz and Sarah. Kira giggled as she saw Ryu pant from exertion from trying to get away from the pair "You really fear fangirls don't you Ryu?" she asked teasingly as she grinned at him.

Ryu shivered "That was nothing, I've seen several commandos go into that state," he said with a haunted look "Ever since then I could never sleep in the same room as Hawk."

Kira laughed out loud as Ryu mocked glared at her. "How is the Strike handling after the upgrades?" he asked as they made their way back to their quarters.

"It's a lot better now, the lag time has been reduced several seconds and the sniper pack at least works fine." She answered "Though I think the power drain for the Mirage Colloid is a bit more extensive then what you estimated it would be. Can you take a look at the readouts for me and tweak it if possible?"

"Sure Kira." He agreed with a grin "I'd be happy to, want to learn how to do maintenance and minor repairs while we're at it?"

Kira grinned at him and nodded and the pair made their way to the hanger.

_With Sebastian and Lacus_

The Storm Wolf of Jachin Due and the Pink Princess of the PLANTS arrived at Sebastian's quarters in silence. Lacus took a seat on the bunk, the initial joy she had felt had dissipated, now there was confusion, sadness, and even anger.

Two sets of brilliant blue eyes locked, it was time to answer the hard questions.

"I imagine I have a lot to answer for, considering the last reports said that I had died."

_How the hell did we wind up like this?_

_Why weren't we able_

_To see the signs that we missed_

_And try to turn the tables_

Lacus folded her arms, and gave a cold look that was very out of place for the normally cheerful girl, "You're right, my father told me _to my face_ that the prototype GuAIZ you were flying suffered catastrophic failure and exploded. He said that _you __**died**__ to my face_. Do you know how grief-stricken I was? I cried for four days straight! And I find you here, alive and well. I can't believe he would lie to me like this!" She put her hands to her face and began crying.

_I wish you'd unclench your fists_

_And unpack your suitcase_

_Lately there's been too much of this_

_Don't think it's too late_

"Your father and I had our reasons for doing this", Sebastian said, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder, but Lacus jerked away, the hurt and anger all too clear in her eyes.

"You played a part in this too? Is everyone I love keeping things from me? You're my fiancé! I thought you loved me!" Lacus was screaming now with tear filled eyes, all the pain and anguish of the last five months spilling out. She turned away from Sebastian. He then grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around so their eyes met once more.

_Nothin's wrong_

_just as long as_

_you know that someday I will_

"I DO love you! In fact it's the reason I left!" Sebastian yelled, "I left to protect you from something I learned that I shouldn't have!"

_Someday, somehow_

_gonna make it alright but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that)_

_Someday, somehow_

_gonna make it alright but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_Well I hoped that since we're here anyway_

_We could end up saying_

_Things we've always needed to say_

_So we could end up stringing_

_Now the story's played out like this_

_Just like a paperback novel_

_Let's rewrite an ending that fits_

_Instead of a Hollywood horror_

"By lying to me?" Lacus screamed.

"It was classified!"" Sebastian yelled,

"Like I don't what classified means!" Lacus shot back, "I'm not a stupid, air headed gossip! My father never kept anything from me! Why would this be any different?"

_Nothin's wrong_

_just as long as_

_you know that someday I will_

_Someday, somehow_

_gonna make it alright but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that)_

_Someday, somehow_

_gonna make it alright but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that)_

_Solo_

"BECAUSE IT WAS A PLAN FOR GENOCIDE!" Sebastian roared at the top of his lungs, "IT WAS CLASSIFIED LEVEL OMEGA BLACK! THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF SECURITY ZAFT HAS! IT'S MEANT SOLEY FOR THE EYES OF THE SURPREME COUNCIL! ANYONE ELSE WHO LEARNED OF IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EXECUTED!"

Lacus was stunned into silence, all the fire from her arguments gone. It was Sebastian's turn to let the tears flow, and they did.

_How the hell did we wind up like this?_

_Why weren't we able_

_To see the signs that we missed_

_And try to turn the tables_

_Now the story's played out like this_

_Just like a paperback novel_

_Let's rewrite an ending that fits_

_Instead of a Hollywood horror_

_Nothin's wrong_

_just as long as_

_you know that someday I will_

_Someday, somehow_

_gonna make it alright but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that)_

_Someday, somehow_

_gonna make it alright but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that)_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that)_

_I know you're wondering when_

Lacus couldn't say anything. She could just stare.

"That's why I left. I'm not going to give you all the details, but I'll tell you this. I found out that Committee Chairman Zala had developed this massive super weapon that could wipe out Earth in one shot. When your father confirmed this for me and said it was classified Omega Black, I knew I was in big trouble."

"You're Supreme Ace, you've given up so much for the homeland, how could they do this to you?" Lacus said, sympathy in her voice.

"It's not just that I would have been killed. If Zala had discovered that I had learned of this weapon, he would have sent Justice Ministry agents to execute me, and anyone else that I may have had contact with, including you" Sebastian said, "You're my life, Lacus. I love you. It was your music that gave me the strength to live on after the Bloody Valentine. I took a vow to myself to protect you no matter what, and it couldn't have been more important than in that moment."

"Certainly my father could have protected you", Lacus said.

"He could have, for awhile, but Zala would have found some way to off me. Make it look like an accident. I wasn't going to give him that luxury. I faked my own death and went into hiding. You can't kill a dead man, and you can't blackmail him by threatening to kill his loved ones," Sebastian gave Lacus a mournful smile "It was so hard to leave you on that morning, seeing you lie there asleep so peacefully." Lacus took Sebastian into her arms, a gesture which he returned, and both silently cried.

"I'm sorry, Sebastian, I'm so sorry I yelled at you" Lacus whispered.

"All sins forgiven", Sebastian said. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Just a second!" He said as he reached for the door. He opened in revealing Matthew and Liz standing at the door. "Matthew? Liz? What are you doing here?" Sebastian said. "I swear, if this has to do with an autograph from Lacus-"

"That's not why we're here." Liz said. "It be nice, but that's far from why we're here."

"We need your help, you two." Matthew said, drawing their attention. "Now Sebastian, I'm sure you are aware of the feelings between Sarah and Jordan? And how they're both too afraid to admit to each other their said feelings?" Sebastian blinked and what Matthew said, and then grinned. He turned back to Lacus, who was also smiling. "Yes." He said. "What are you planning?"

"We had a plan before hand…" Matthew said. "But…It probably wouldn't work to begin with. And I think my new plan, no offence to Liz's plan, will work better."

"It wasn't that bad!" Liz said.

"Liz…your plan involved using up every Kanutan Valve on the ship!" Matthew said. "Anyways, are you two in?"

Once again, Sebastian looked towards Lacus, who nodded. "We're in." he said. "So what's the Plan?"

_Vesalius_

Athrun laid on his bed staring up at the ceiling lost in thought reflecting on what he learned just a couple of hours ago. Lacus, who had taken a trip to Junius Seven for a memorial service, had gone missing, possibly kidnapped, he and Rau now carried new orders for a search and rescue for Lacus. He wasn't able to sleep because of his worry for his close friend, while he may not love her in _that_ way he still cared for her deeply and would do anything to protect her, rolling over on his side he saw his new roommate fast asleep and remembered meeting him shortly after being informed of his new mission.

_Flashback_

_"Now that we are clear on your orders I want to introduce you to a new pilot who will be temporarily joining your squad," The admiral said as he gestured to a man off to the side He was about 6'3" with short blonde hair and blood red eyes. "This is Ragnos Vermeer, he is the pilots of the experimental mobile suit."_

_The pilot saluted "A pleasure to serve under you sirs." Ragnos said crisply as he relaxed slightly "I'm the pilot of the rebuilt ZGMF-X990."_

_"The X?" Rau questioned looking a bit startled "I didn't know they were actually rebuilding that suit."_

_"The council was impressed with the suits performance, right up until The Dragon stole it during the demonstration." The Admiral said "Do you know, the council also put in a suggestion to use that as a simulation for commando teams."_

_Ragnos smiled at the admirals joke "I've definitely have some big shoes to fill though as the X's pilot."_

End Flashback

"Are you alright Athrun?" Ragnos asked jerking Athrun out of his revere "You look like something's troubling you."

Athrun gave a wry smile "A couple of something's actually, first is Lacus obviously, but..." he searched for a way to describe his predicament without revealing that he knew the pilot of the Strike "A friend I have in ORB and I have been having this argument," Ragnos raised an eyebrow and motioned for Athrun to continue but said nothing "We're disagreeing on whether or not she should be living in the PLANTs because she's a coordinator, she says that she doesn't want to, but I just want to make sure she is safe."

Ragnos nodded with a frown "Let me guess, your friend is the pilot of the Strike." He said shocking Athrun "Don't worry I won't tell anyone, the only reason I guessed is because you said she lived in ORB and in all of your fights with the Strike you both slightly hesitated in your attacks. Has she told you _why_ she is fighting for the EA right now?" he asked.

Athrun sneered "She believes that she is protecting her so called _friends_." He snarled the word "but they're just tricking her to fight for them!"

"Have you met these friends of hers?" he asked curiously to which Athrun shook his head "Than why do you judge those you have not met? The way I see it is that she doesn't want to fight you, but she's in a position where she has to chose between two groups, you and her other friends. That would be a tough choice."

Athrun clenched his fist tightly "Also her and the Dragon are apparently in a relationship." He reveled surprising Ragnos.

_Flashback_

_"The reason I care is because I love her, I am her guardian as she is mine."_

End Flashback

Ryu's words echoed through his head as he thought back to that moment "That's a surprise." Ragnos finally said after awhile "It sounds like your envious of the Dragon." Athrun jerked in surprise as he stared at his roommate in shock who chuckled "You just have to accept the fact that what she is doing is what _she_ believes is right, is she in the wrong? I don't know, and in the end neither do you. You have to accept the fact that the two of you are on different paths now, who knows, maybe in the future your paths will cross again in better circumstances, but until that time, what will _you_ do?" Ragnos laid back down and closed his eyes "That is where many make their mistakes, I hope you can find your path, not the one someone else laid out for you."

Athrun remained silent as Ragnos' words coursed through his head.

Archangel, Cafeteria

"Is it really true that Sebastian is engaged to Lacus Clyne?" Flay asked, a wide grin on her face, happy to have some gossip after the last few weeks of sheer terror.

"Yeah, Sebastian looked like he had seen a ghost when she came out of the escape pod" Sarah said, and both girls began giggling.

"What is with girls and Gossip?" I whispered to Matthew, who shrugged. "I Dunno." He said. "Never got around to finding out why."

"It's a girl thing!" Sarah said, with a giggle.

"What's so funny?" a soft, cheerful voice said, and both girls, and the two of us turned to Lacus, and both Flay and Sarah began blushing in embarrassment, "Is something wrong?"

"Uh, no, not at all!" Flay said, quick to cover her tracks, "Um, allow to me introduce myself. I'm Flay Allster and this is Sarah Lenix. And Over there are-"

"Jordan Takeo, and Matthew Takeo." I finished. "yes, we're brothers."

I noticed that Lacus gave a quick, almost unnoticed grin, but she quickly hid it."The pleasure is mine, My name is Lacus Clyne" Lacus said, giving a small bow, "This is my friend, Haro, but he also goes by Mr. Pink, or even Pinky." Lacus indicated to her constantly chattering companion.

"It's so cute!" Sarah squealed, "Where did you get it?"

"A friend of mine since childhood made it for me, Athrun Zala. It was a gift for my sixth birthday. It was very thoughtful of him, I liked it so much. He made another one for me, and another, and another. I have about five of them."

"five!" Flay said, "Why so many?" To this the Pink Princess began giggling herself.

"I enjoyed Mr. Pink's company so much. Athrun just continued giving them to me at Christmas and birthdays. And the real truth is he isn't very good at buying presents, so he just stuck to this." And all three girls shared a brief laugh.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Sebastian said, "Lacus, I thought I told you to wait in my quarters."

"I know sweetheart, but Mr. Pink wanted to go for a walk, and he opened the door" Lacus held out the pink Haro and it chattered and popped its flaps.

Sebastian sighed. "Lacus, please go back to my quarters, Jordan, could you show her the way? And grab her some lunch while you're at it." to which he gave a brief nod, and left after grabbing her a tray of food. Shortly after, Sarah also left to follow.

Sebastian then smiled at Matthew. "Phase one Complete." He said, and Matthew grinned as they as well turned to follow them.

_A few minutes later in Lacus's room_

"Thank you," said Lacus, finishing off the tray of food. I smiled. "It's no problem," I said. "Still, I should properly thank you, Mister…" she trailed off, realizing she forgot my name. "Jordan, Jordan Takeo." I said. "But please just call me Jordan."Lacus raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Gineta Takeo, would you?"

My eyes widened. "T-That's my Mother!" I said. "H-how-"

"We met at a party a few years ago." She said. "Come to think of it, I do see a striking resemblance to you mother. You have the same eyes." I blushed slightly. "T-thank you." I said.

"Say," she asked. "You wouldn't happen to be a singer, would you?" now my blush was increasing in brightness. "W-What?" I asked. "You mother had a beautiful singing voice." She said. "Did she give you any lessons?" I scratched the back of my head. "Well…" I said. "There are a few song's I wrote…and sung…"

"Well then let's hear one!" Lacus said.

"Uh… no. I'm just an amateur singer, nothing like you."

"Oh, come on," said Lacus as I blushed more. "I want to hear it."

"O… okay," I said, before clearing my throat.

(Song is here: http: / www . youtube . com /watch?v=SrQrkZtg-mo "The Journey Home")

The Heliopolis volunteers, including Chris, Sarah, Liz, Flay, and even Sebastian pressed their ears tighter to Lacus's door, now even more curious. All of them wanted to hear this. They'd never have pegged Jordan as someone who would pursue singing, even as a hobby.

_The journey begins_

_Starts from within_

_Things that I need to know_

My blush grew deeper as I began to sing. I didn't think I was that good, and here I was, being asked to sing by Lacus Clyne, the most prominent diva in the modern world.

_The song of the bird_

_Echoed in words_

_Flying for the need to fly_

Outside, eyes widened, especially Sarah's. Jordan's singing was as stunning as everything else about him, even if it didn't measure up to Lacus's.

_Thoughts endless in flight_

_Day turns to night_

_Questions you ask your soul_

Haro was completely silent, almost seeming to be listening as well, while Lacus's smile grew.

_Which way do I go?_

_How fast is too slow?_

_The journey has its time within us_

My blush faded as I began to relax into the song, my eyes closing.

_If a man can fly over an ocean_

_And no mountains can get in his way_

_Will he fly on forever_

_Searching for something to believe_

Even outside the room, one could tell that the boy had thrown himself, heart and soul, into his singing. It was now loud enough that several crewmen, walking down the hall, paused to listen as well.

_From above I can see from the heavens_

_Down below I see the storm raging on_

_And somewhere in the answer_

_There is a hope to carry on_

Lacus admired the serene look on Jordan's face. The boy seemed at peace—as he hadn't seemed since Lacus had met him.

Neither of them noticed Haro's eyes flashing rapidly.

_When I finally return_

_Things that I learn_

_Carry me back to home_

Many of Jordan's friends couldn't believe their ears. Jordan had such potential at being a singer. Maybe even better Lacus could be. None were more shocked that Sarah.

_The thoughts that I feed_

_Planting a seed_

_With time will begin to grow_

_The more that I try_

_The more that I fly_

_The answer in itself will be there_

Jordan fell silent, a smile on his face. Lacus smiled as well. Jordan was better than he gave himself credit for.

"Well, I'd say you have a very promising career in the music industry," said Lacus. Haro's eyes stopped flashing. "It was beautiful." I blinked. "Y-you really think so?" I asked. She nodded.

"Lacus! Beautiful. Jordan!" said Haro as I blushed. Haro suddenly stopped moving, and then they heard my voice coming from the robot, singing the same song.

"What the hell? Did that thing just record me?" I exclaimed, blushing again, this time at the thought of someone having a recording of my singing.

"Now why don't you ever do that for me?" asked Lacus playfully. "Hmm… maybe Athrun can explain it."

"Athrun?" I asked. "Athrun Zala, my best friend." Lacus said. "He's been a good friend of mine since childhood, and if it wasn't for Sebastian, I'd bet my father and his father would have arranged us to be married. Witch I'm thankful for."

"Why's that?" I asked, interested. "Well, I do love Athrun, but it's like a Brother-sister thing." She answered. "I doubt it would have worked out for us in the end. I'm just Glad Sebastian's alright."

I nodded "So this Haro is his design?"

"That's right," said Lacus cheerfully.

"I see…" I said. "I guess you can consider yourself lucky really." Lacus raised an eyebrow. "How so?" she asked.

"Well, you know how much someone loves you." I said, smiling. "But…there is a person who I really do like, maybe even more than I have anyone else, and I don't know if she loves me the same way. And I'm…well…afraid to ask her because if I did, she may not want to be my friend anymore if she says no."

Lacus smiled. "That's a tough situation." She said. "Well, the best way to find out is to just ask from what I've seen." I blinked. "Really?" I asked.

She nodded. "I may not know who she is_._" She said. "But all I can really tell you is that you just need to give it your all, just like how you sing. And regardless of her answer, if she was really your friend, she wouldn't care either way."

I smiled. "Thanks Lacus." I said, and I stood up. "I guess you're right. Well, I'm off to the Mess Hall. Who knew singing takes all that out of ya."

Lacus giggled. "I know all too well."

Unknown to either of them, everyone outside had begun to move, most heading for the mess hall.

I opened the door and stepped out. I glanced back at Lacus. "I'll see you later… and _please_ don't let anyone else hear that recording, at least not yet?" Lacus smiled and nodded.

"Okay," she said. "I'll only show it when you say it's ok." I smiled. "Thanks Lacus." I said.

Shortly after he left Sebastian, Matthew and Liz met with Lacus. "You did great Lacus!" Sebastian said. "Now it's all up to those two now."

Lacus smiled as she stood up. "Time to watch the fireworks." Liz said as they headed towards the Mess Hall.

_Hanger_

Kira's head popped up from the panel she was working on with the Strike "Someone's is playing matchmaker." She stated to Ryu's surprise.

"How in the hell do you know that?" He asked in confusion looking at his girlfriend as she frowned.

"It's a girl thing, and I have a feeling on who the victims are," She mused smiling deviously making Ryu nervous.

"I just hope you never turn that smile towards me." He muttered shivering.

_Mess Hall_

"Uh, what's up guys?" I asked uncertainly as I entered the mess hall. Everyone was staring at me.

Sarah stood up, two trays held in her hands.

"Hey, Jordan, I was hoping you'd show up," she said. "Can we talk? Alone?"

"Uh, sure," I said uncertainly before leaving the mess hall with Sarah.

_A few more minutes later_

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked as I sat down on one of the beds, My tray of food resting in my lap as Sarah did the same on the opposite bed.

"I… well, I heard you singing earlier," confessed Sarah, blushing slightly. I looked down, feeling uncharacteristically nervous. "It was… it was beautiful. Why don't you sing more often?"

That's when I looked up. "Y-you really think that?" I stuttered out. She nodded, smiling weakly. "Yes." She said. "But…Why don't you sing more often?" I looked back on the ground. "Well…"I said. "I feel…embarrassed when I sing sometimes." "Embarrassed?" She asked. "Ya…"I said. "Ya see…something happened about a year ago when I first moved to Heliopolis…let's just say I haven't sung since then."

"Something bad, Funny, or Embarrassing?" she asked. "Bad and Embarrassing from my point of view." I said. "But from Chris's, it was all too funny."

"What?" she asked. I scratched the back of my head. "Well…" I said. "It was a night after me and Chris were studying for some test…" I told her the whole story, and by the end of it, Sarah was trying her very best not to laugh in front of me. "That…Was…HILARIOUS!" she shouted as she couldn't suppress the laugher any longer and rolled on the bed laughing. It was a good thing she set her food aside otherwise it would have been all over her.

After a minute of her laughing, she finally calmed down, and faced a blushing red me. "Oh um…sorry." She said, starting to blush again. "It's ok." I said. "Just…please don't tell anyone else." She nodded. "Also…" she said, standing up. "I heard that there was someone that you cared about." She sat back down in the bed I was sitting in.

At that point blushing was an understatement for my appearance. My face was as red as a ripe Tomato. "Someone you cared about more than anyone else you've known. Who is it?" I bit my lip, and almost tore it off when Sarah put her hand on mine. My mouth was rapidly stuttering to just say the words I was trying to say. "I…I…I" I stuttered, trying to force the words out. _Come on man! _I thought. _Just say it! _

"What?" Sarah asked. "What is it?" That's when I took a very deep breath. "Well, Sarah…" I said. "That person I love most…is…you."

Now it was Sarah's turn to be ripe as a tomato. "M-me?" she asked, stuttering just as I was. "Yes." I said, relaxing a bit now that _that _was off my shoulders. "I…don't know if you feel the same way for me…but I guess I just wanted to tell you that."

At this point, Sarah was absolutely speechless. All this time she was afraid how Jordan would have reacted if _she _told him how she felt. And right here and now, it turned out Jordan _did _love her that same way, and she, like her, was too afraid to admit his feelings in fear of rejection.

She couldn't help but smile. _Well, it's out now. _She thought as she leaned closer to him. "You know what, Jordan?" she whispered, and he turned to face her. "I feel that exact same way."

My eyes widened, and almost subconsciously to both of us, we slowly leaned towards one another, and before either of us knew it, our eyes closed, and our lips met into a kiss.

Outside, Liz Matthew, Sebastian, and Lacus watched grinning in triumph at the sight of them finally kissing. When they walked away, Liz gave Matthew a high-five. "Mission Complete." She said. "I knew we could do it!"

"I'll admit, that was pretty fun." Lacus admitted. "And Jordan really does have a great singing voice."

"Yes, he does." Matthew said. "But were you serious when you said you knew our mother?"

Lacus nodded. "It was all true." She said. "She was a gentle, and caring person. She should be proud of you two."

Matthew frowned slightly. "Would have." He corrected. "She died a few days ago."

"Oh my!" Lacus said, covering her mouth. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright." Matthew said, waving it off. "Me and My brother don't waste time with pity. Besides, we're both alive, and now Jordan has yet another reason to fight." He smiled at that last part.

_Archangel _Bridge

"Hmm? What's this?" murmured Romero, staring intently at his display console as his fingers moved over the controls.

"Ma'am!" said Romero. "We're receiving a transmission."

"Who is it from?" asked Murrue.

"I'm verifying it right now," replied Romero. "It's from the 8th Fleet!"

"It's from Admiral Halberton," said Murrue, practically jumping out of her chair. "Patch it through."

Static filled the bridge speakers. "_Arch… gel… Come… Archangel… This is… gomery…_" said a voice, growing clearer and clearer. "_Come in Archangel… This is the Montgomery. We've been dispatched to rendezvous with you and escort you to the rest of the 8th Fleet._"

A loud cheer filled the bridge. It looked like their luck was finally turning around.

Archangel Mess Hall

Ryu yawned as he and Kira stepped into the cafeteria to get some dinner after finishing the the maintenance and repairs for both the Strike and Dragon as well as making some minor adjustments to the Raven and Zephyr. The pair sat down next to Chris, Liz and Flay, who had apparently hit it off well with Lacus after learning she was a daughter of a leader as well, who were talking and eating with Lacus. "Hi," Kira chirped brightly "We haven't been properly introduced yet, I'm Kira Yamato, the pilot of the Strike."

Lacus smiled at the brunette "It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Yamato, my name is Lacus Clyne." She said with a slight bow of her head.

Kira groaned "Please don't call me that, makes me feel old." She said plaintively giving a puppy eye look.

Lacus and the other laughed at Kira while Lacus nodded in agreement when Birdie suddenly swooped in and landed on Ryu's head "Birdie?" It questioned looking at the newcomer and her Haro.

"Oh my." Lacus said as she looked at Birdie "What is that?"

Kira smiled brightly "It's a mechanical bird that an old friend of mine from the Lunar Academy gave me," she explained "His name is Birdie."

"Haro!" Lacus' Haro shouted as it jumped out of her lap and onto the table in front of Ryu who looked at the red ball nervously before it jumped up to catch Birdie. Unfortunately it missed its target and smacked Ryu in the forehead as Birdie took flight.

"OW!" Ryu's shout resounded through the cafeteria as everyone laughed at Ryu's expense as Haro continued to chase Birdie around the room. Sitting up Ryu glared at the red ball and the mechanical bird as he rubbed at his forehead "Sooner or later, I will dismantle them." He warned as his eyes held a dangerous glint in them.

"If you did that then I would never speak to you again." Kira threatened frowning at Ryu how began pleading with her not to do that.

Lacus and the other laughed at Ryu. That was when Jordan, Followed by Sarah walked into the Mess Hall. "Hey, Jordan! Sarah!" Greeted Chris. "Where've ya been?" Ryu raised an eyebrow at when _both _of them blush a light red. And he also noticed Lacus, Matthew, and Liz grin like maniacs.

"Well…uh…" Jordan said, Sarah not fairing any better. "They were in one of the Unused rooms Making out." Liz blurted out. Both of them flinched when she just blared it out, while Chris's Jaw dropped, and Kira's eyes Widened.

"Liz!" Sarah shouted at her friend. To which She started laughing. And soon, Matthew joined in with Lacus giggling slightly.

"I told ya it would work!" Matthew said, and Jordan glared at him. "You _planned _this?" Jordan Demanded.

"It was just a little joint-operation with some cooperation from Liz, Lacus and even Sebastian." Matthew said while grinning at Jordan's enraged face. "And besides, it all worked out in the end…right?"

Jordan finally started to calm down, and sighed. "Dammit, your right." He muttered.

Everyone was laughing at the pair when an announcement suddenly came on "_Attention Personnel and Civilians, we have recently made contact with an escort sent by Admiral Halberton of the 5th Fleet led by George Allster._" Kuzzey, who had taken the role of communication, announced to everyone's delight.

Flay's eyes widened at the sound of her father's name and started crying in happiness while Kira hugged Ryu, Liz and Chris exchanged high fives, and Sarah gladly hugged Jordan. The whole mood of the Archangel changed with that simple announcement, the civilians were talking excitedly about the prospect of returning home while the crew were relieved and relaxed that they had allies en route. The pilots were relieved that they may not have to fight again anytime soon, although some where having second thoughts to their plans.

Chris sat back in his chair forehead creased in thought '_What should I do?_' he asked himself '_Grandfather always taught us to fight for one of three things, honor, A cause they truly believed in and to protect a life. What should I do?_'

Liz was having similar thoughts while Kira was concerned about Ryu rejoining the EA '_What would I do if he did, would I want to stay just to be with him?_' she wondered as she leant into Ryu with his arms wrapped around her shoulder '_Well, it's like Ryu always says, if it has no impact on the moment than wait and see what happens._'

As I hugged Sarah, I was having a mental tsunami. _What should I do? _I thought. _At first, I was confident I would stay with the Archangel and the Katana…but now…_I looked at Sarah. _…Now I'm afraid that Sarah will stay if I stay. Not that it would be a bad thing, but I want her to be safe more than ever now. _I shrugged it off. _We'll worry about that later. _I thought. _Right now, let's just enjoy the moment. _

Sarah was having similer thoughts. _What will you do Jordan? _She thought. _I don't care what you choose, right now, I just want to be with you. Whether it's at Orb, or at the Archangel. _

Matthew smiled as his Brother hugged his newly acquired Girlfriend. _They'll stay. _He thought. _They'll probably all stay. They've all seen how bad the war really is. They will want to help out in the end. Sebastian will probably stay as well. Hell, I'm probably gonna stay too. _He then smiled. _Family, Friends, Honor, and Life. _He thought. _The four reasons a person should fight…_

He glanced at Jordan one last time. '_That's why I'll fight now.' _

Ryu himself was sighing as he held Kira and looked around the Cafeteria at his friends, all of them seemed to be in a state of confusion save for Matthew '_To chose a life of war, no longer ignoring the outside, or to chose a life of peace knowing how truly fragile it is,_' He mused looking down at Kira and smiled softly '_My choice: To defend that fragile peace, that is _my_ role as a soldier._'

_Archangel_, Bridge

The environment was slightly more relaxed now that reinforcements had arrived, but everyone was still alert for a possible ZAFT attack. Sebastian and Flay had arrived just as a _Nelson_-class heavy cruiser and two _Drake_-class frigates came into visual range.

"The _Montgomery_ is hailing us, Lieutenant," Kuzzey said, wearily eyeing Sebastian.

"By all means, onscreen" Murrue said, and the visages of Captain Augustus Koopman and Vice Foreign Minister Allster appeared, and Murrue saluted.

"Captain Koopman, it's good to see you" Murrue said, "We've had quite a trip".

"I bring you greetings from Admiral Halberton, when we heard about Heliopolis, we all assumed the worst. Good to see you survived" Koopman said.

"Flay, is that you?" Allster said in shock.

"Yes, daddy, it's me. I'm just fine" Flay said.

"Who are you, young man?" Allster asked Sebastian, "For some reason, you seem very familiar to me."

To that, Sebastian merely grinned, "Well, I would thing you would remember me. You should remember my parents very well, especially my mother. Wouldn't you…Uncle George?" Sebastian's grin went ear to ear, and everyone was stunned silent with those last two words.


	12. Phase 9: Hell breaks loose

The Bridge of the _Hades_

Elsewhere

"Sir. We've detected three Earth Forces warships."

"Out this far? That's unusual," said Sayla.

"They could be an escort for the legged ship," said Captain Dren.

"Indeed. That is likely why they're out here," said Zar. "Have they detected us yet?"

"No Sir. As you know, we're on the edge of the Debris Belt. They will not be able to detect us."

"Hmm… If they detected us, they'll warn the legged ship. And depending on the Captain of that vessel, they'll either stay away or come to their assistance," said Zar thoughtfully, staring at the ceiling.

"Sir. The _Vesalius_ is hailing us."

"_Commander Zar, it seems we've found some unexpected guests. It's safe to assume that they're here for the legged ship, which means that we should remove them from the field immediately,_" said Le Creuset.

"So we're switching from searching for Miss Clyne, back to our original mission," said Zar. "You're planning on using that small fleet as bait to draw in the legged ship."

"_Yes. Either the legged ship will come to their allies' aid, in which case, we'll be able to destroy it right here and now. Or they'll flee, in which case, they'll be alone and likely low on supplies. So why don't you deploy that High maneuver team that your ship is so famous for?_" said Le Creuset.

Zar nodded. "Very well. We'll deploy the Gelb Team when the time arrives. We'll launch additional GINN High maneuver Types in advance to engage the enemy Fleet. Once they've done their damage and pulled back, I'll be sending the rest of my forces to engage them. If the legged ship comes to their aid, we'll destroy those three warships with the cannons of the _Hades_, and move against the legged ship. If not, then the mobile suits will shoot them down. I assume that you'll be deploying the rest of the mobile suits as well."

"_Of course,_" said Le Creuset before closing the connection.

_Back with the Archangel_

Atlantic Federation Vice Foreign Minister George Allster was doing a good impression of a fish, and everyone else on the bridges of both the _Archangel_ and _Montgomery_ could only stare at the brown-haired, blue-eyed young man with a Cheshire Cat grin on his face.

"You know, I wish I had a camera, because that look is priceless" Sebastian said, still grinning.

"Wh-what did you call me?" Allster said, not daring to believe it.

"Uncle, I believe that is the title a person gives to the brother of one of his parents" Sebastian said, like it was obvious, he then slapped his forehead, "I'm sorry, Uncle. I never introduced myself, Sebastian Connor, the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due, ZAFT's Supreme Ace, at your service."

"Z-ZAFT!" Allster said, now clearly outraged, "Lieutenant Ramius, why is there a _ZAFT _pilot on the bridge of _your_ ship with _my_ daughter!"

"Hold on daddy!" Flay cut in, she turned to Sebastian, "It is true, Sebastian? Are you really related to Me and Father?" To which the Storm Wolf merely nodded.

"Yes, Flay, I am exactly that" He then proceeded to pace the bridge, and spoke in a tone that a teacher would use to address his students, "My full name is Sebastian Andrew Connor. I was born on February 26th, C.E. 53 in Kansas City, MO, in the Atlantic Federation, on Earth. My parents were Dr. Timothy Michael Connor, and JoAnn Marie Connor, or as she was known before her marriage, JoAnn Marie Allster."

"Your mother was a Natural?" Natarle said, as surprised as everyone else was at this revelation.

"Yes indeed," Sebastian said, "Uncle, I am very certain you remember your older sister, and how much she took care of you. Remember the time you had a serious case of the flu, you were bedridden for two days, and my mom took care of you through the whole thing, she never left your side once. But I don't need to remind you. You remember it already, I know."

Allster hesitated, ready to vehemently deny everything, but then he looked to his daughter, standing by Sebastian's side, the living image of his sister. He hung his head, "Yes, I do remember my big sister, very well. Flay, what Sebastian is saying is true. His mother was my older sister. He's your cousin."

"Daddy, why didn't you tell me?" Flay said, clearly upset.

"I was angry, angry that she could have fallen for one of…them!" Allster said, "She was my best friend, and she forgot all about me when she ran off with _him_."

Sebastian said, "Uncle, my mother never forgot you. She talked about you all the time. She said it was always her hope that I could meet you." "With the death of my father's side of the family in the Bloody Valentine, that means you and Flay are all I have left."

"When this is all over, you and I need to sit down, Flay, you as well. We have a lot to discuss…nephew" George Allster, a genuine smile forming.

"I'll look forward to that, Uncle" Sebastian said, and then the alert klaxon went off.

"What is it?" Murrue said.

"Radar interference! N-jammer levels increasing!" I'm reading A _Nazca_ and a _Laurasia_. It's the _Vesalius_ and the _Gamow_!" Romero Pal reported.

"Le Creuset!" Sebastian growled, "Uncle, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I've got to get to work."

"I understand, just promise me this, take care of my daughter" Allster said, looking his nephew square in the eye.

"I won't even promise you that. I guarantee it, and I always live up to my guarantees" Sebastian said, and the screen went blank.

"Murrue, we had better get ready," Sebastian said.

"Red Alert! Sound General Quarters! Level One Battle stations!" Murrue barked on the loudspeakers, and Sebastian raced for the hanger, Flay, hot on his heels.

_Gamow_, hanger

_So it comes to this_, Nicol thought as he sat in the Blitz's cockpit, _Once again I have to fight my best friend. How did we end up like this? How did things get so bad?_

_"How lucky can you get!"_ Yzak smirked from the cockpit of the Duel, _"We thought we had lost the legged ship, and Evans leads us right to it!"_

_"Yeah, but did he have to stay?"_ Dearka said from Buster, and Yzak grudgingly nodded. After getting thoroughly trounced by the Storm Wolf in the Debris Belt, Evans had hooked up with the Le Creuset team. He had transferred to the _Vesalius_ while the _Dark Tooth _returned to the PLANTS.

"Sebastian and Kyle can't stand each other" Nicol said, "I know when we attack they'll go straight for each other."

"_Maybe we'll get lucky and Connor will do him in,"_ Yzak said.

"Kyle Evans is the reason that Sebastian and I even met, and I speak from first hand experience that the man's a lunatic", Nicol said, "I certainly won't lose any sleep if Sebastian removes him from this world!"

_"That may not be so easy. I heard that they modified Commander Evans CGUE to test some new weapons they reverse engineered from the G-weapons, A beam rifle, and a laser sword they say is capable of piercing Phase Shift"_, Dearka noted, _"G-weapon or not, Commander Connor will have his hands full."_

"Then hope Sebastian wins," Nicol said, "I know I am."

"_I second that._" Dearka said.

_"You know all what to do,"_ Le Creuset said as he came up on the pilot's video monitors, _"Nicol, if you face Predator, feel free to use disabling attacks only. I've already told Athrun the same thing for if he faces the Strike."_

"Thank you, Commander" Nicol said, _Sebastian I don't want to fight you. I have my duty to the PLANTS, and yet, I have my loyalty to you. I'm so confused!_

Archangel, hallway

_It never ends,_ Chris thought, now in his flight suit. The others had already reached the hanger.

"Chris!" Flay cried, having caught up to him, "You probably haven't heard, but my father is on one of those ships. Please protect him!"

"Of course, Flay" Chris said giving a small smile, "I promise."

"Thank you", she smiled back, and Sebastian emerged in his green flight suit, "You do the same, and please come back to me." She said to him, giving him a sisterly kiss on the cheek.

"What was that about?" Chris asked suspiciously.

"Don't worry Chris, I already know how you feel about Flay. In a nutshell, she's my cousin. Her dad and my mom were brother and sister. I'll give you the whole story later on, but right now we have work to do" Sebastian said, and the two pilots headed for the hanger and their Gundams.

In the Hanger Ryu was shouting off his own orders to the pilots "Listen up, your machines still haven't been fully tested yet with their new upgrades, so if you are having _ANY_ troubles whatsoever than I want you to fall back to Archangel and get it looked at I don't care how you feel about it, it is an _ORDER! MOUNT UP!_" he shouted over the sound of the hanger as they dashed to their machines.

Sebastian finished strapping himself into Predator, and performing his standard check-out procedure.

"Bridge, this is Sebastian, in my rush, I forgot to ask what exactly it is we're dealing with, give me the rundown."

_"Seven GINNs, four G-weapons the Blitz, Buster, Duel and Aegis, the X, two GINN HMT's, and a CGUE,"_ said Murrue.

"Son of a bitch!" Sebastian said, _FOUR of them, and an X? That means Nicol's out there, terrific! I wouldn't be surprised if that CGUE was Evans. So I'll have two problems to deal with!_, "Lieutenant, I'm ready for take off, give me the word and I'll give them hell."

_"I understand, but we been ordered to hold back and let the advance force take care of things"_ Murrue said with consternation.

"Koopman is an idiot!" Sebastian hissed, "What is he trying to do? Get himself and my uncle killed!"

_Montgomery_, Bridge

_Damn it all to hell! This can't be happening to me _now _of all times! _George Allster cursed he looked out to the _Archangel_, the pristine white of its laminated armor hull contrasting against the black, star filled sky, _Sebastian, you're my daughter's best chance for survival. Don't you dare let anything happen to her!_

"Launch mobile armors and bring all weapons online. Not that it'll do any good" said Koopman.

"I still don't understand why you ordered the _Archangel_ to stand off when it's obvious they could be such a help to us!" Allster said.

"They could, but we'd still be outnumbered. We need to give them time to escape to Ptolemaeus. I hate to say this sir, but we're expendable, they're not" Koopman said, his face like stone

"But even still" Allster said, "my daughter's on that ship."

"I know sir. In fact it's probably the safest place for her to be right now. Besides, she's not alone. Your nephew is there with her, and knowing who he is, he would fight tooth and nail to protect her" Koopman said, giving a small smile.

"I suppose you're right. After all, he _does_ have Allster blood in him, and we don't back down from fights easily!" Allster said with pride, and then adding quietly "Good luck Sebastian, please take care of my little ballerina princess. I have a feeling she's going to need you. Godspeed, nephew."

Then a crewman gave the warning that all aboard had expected, and dreaded, "We have engaged the enemy captain."

"Then let's do it!" Koopman said, and all hell broke lose.

_Archangel, _Bridge

_I don't believe this, just as we catch up to the advance force, ZAFT shows up and ruins everything!_ Murrue thought as the first ship went up.

_"Lieutenant Ramius, we have to do something!" _Ryu said from the command chair's left hand screen.

"Commander, our orders are clear-", was as far as she got before the Storm Wolf cut her off.

_"Fuck the orders!"_ Sebastian yelled, _"The advance force is getting slaughtered like three fat pigs, and once they're gone, we're next. Do you really think all of us will be able to stand against those kinds of odds? Alone?"_

Murrue considered this for a few seconds as the second ship was vaporized, leaving only the _Montgomery_, and then Murrue said to Mir, "Launch the Mobile suits."

_Archangel_, Hanger

"Finally, I was wondering when we were going to act!" Sebastian said, as he guided Predator to the port catapult_, Hold_ _on uncle, we're coming as fast we can_.

Chris was already loaded up the Raven on the starboard catapult, "Raven here. I'm ready."

_"Watch yourself out there, Chris. Remember, Flay's father is on one of those ships as well." _

"I remember, and it's not just Flay's father, he's also Sebastian's uncle." Chris tightened his grip on the controls, determined to see this through to the end, "Chris Dante, Raven Gundam, lets do it!"

"Sebastian Connor, Predator Gundam, Moving out!"

"Mir, mount up the Gunbarrel Pack!" Kira requested as the Strike settled into the Launch Catapult.

"Get me the 'Trikeros' unit." Ryu ordered as his Dragon settled into the second catapult and went over the contact report "The X? Alright listen up Kira you're on the Aegis, Liz, Chris, and Sebastian you'll be joining the defensive screen that the mobile armors are prepping, Mu I want you at the back of that screen, you're still not used to that machine so you won't be at top form, but if you see a hole fill it. Matthew, Jordan and Sarah, you three watch over the Archangel. Everyone, leave the X copy to me."

A course of 'yessir' followed his orders as he and Kira were given the all clear for launch.

"Kira Yamato, Strike Gundam, Lets do it!"

"Ryu Hisanaga, Dragon Gundam, Engaging the enemy!"

Next up Sarah and Liz were loaded into the catapults.

"Liz Dante, Zephyr Gundam, Let's go!"

"Sarah Lenix, Slash Gundam, Launching!"

The next two were Jordan and Matthew. "Time to give the Katana Knight it debut." Jordan said as his Custom "Katana Knight" pack was mounted.

"Jordan Takeo, Katana Gundam, Lets Rock and Roll!"

"Matthew Takeo, Shadow Scythe Gundam, Lets cut 'em up!"

Mu was the last to be loaded as his suits weapons were equipped "Mu la Flagga, Let's show'em how it's done!"

_Montgomery_, Bridge

"Captain, the _Archangel_ is deploying its machines!" a crewman called out.

"What?" Allster said, "Are they insane? Even with their help, we're not going to last much longer!"

"I'm not surprised," Koopman said, "The first rule of command, never give an order you know won't be obeyed. Ramius is Halberton's protégé. He had a stubborn streak a mile wide, and it seems to have translated to her."

"Give me the _Archangel_!" Allster said, and Murrue's image appeared on the screen, "Captain Ramius, what do you think you're doing! Captain Koopman gave you a direct order to move off."

_"I'm sorry sir, it was your nephew that convinced me to launch"_ said Murrue.

"Let me speak to my daughter", Allster said. Flay, who had returned to the bridge after speaking to Chris, came into view.

_"Daddy, I'm scared"_ Flay said.

"I know, princess. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared myself. If anything happens to me, I want you to…", and Flay stopped him.

_"No daddy, don't talk that way!"_ Flay said in a panicking tone.

"Flay!" He said sharply, "If anything happens to me, I want you to know that I love you, Stick close to Sebastian. And remember this, my ballerina princess, _you are not alone_. I love you baby doll."

_"I love you, too Daddy"_ Flay said, tears in her eyes.

The Nine suits streaked through space as they took up their positions and waited the enemy, they didn't have long to wait as a wave of GINNs lead by the Aegis and the X-copy smashed into the defensive screen. Narrowing his eyes Ryu charged at the X with his beam rifle and Trikeros firing drawing the pilots attention to him "I'll be you playmate for today Rookie." Ryu stated as he extended the Mesamune and clashed against the X's katana, Ryu was slightly surprised to find that the X's sword wasn't cut by his swords heating abilities "So the X received some upgrades has she?" he asked tauntingly "No matter, it is only a copy of the original!"

Ryu suddenly reversed his suit causing the X to lose its balance before he swung again only for the X to roll out of the way and pull out its rifle and fired off a beam at the Dragon that Ryu dodged. "_True this may be a copy,_" the Pilot admitted "_But it's the pilot who matters, not the Machine!_" with that the fangs of the X were launched and circled the X before launching out at Ryu. _So true. _Ryu thought and he grinned as he dodged the DRAGOON's.

_Hades_

"Sir, the ship is joining the battle." Captain Dren said. _Perfect. _Zar thought. "Very well then." He said. "Tell the Gelb team to break there attack, and engage the Katana. I will be heading out shortly."

_Archangel_

"Ma'am, the first two GINN High maneuver types have broken away, and are heading towards the Katana." Romeo reported. "Just the two?" Natarle asked. "They seem to be moving twice as fast as the rest of them." Romeo said. "There speed is faster than anything we've come across before."

GINN high maneuver type

Gelb team, 5th space division, 23rd tactical mobile suit squadron.

Rainer Altman followed his flight lead, captain Kurt Gelb. "_Rainer, you following me?_" His captain asked. "Yes, sir." He replied. "High maneuver system is still operating at full function." "Then let's show these earth forces how real aces of Zaft play." The captain said. "Is it true they shot down all of the Gurdega team?" Rainer asked. He personally knew one of the Grudega pilots as a close friend. "Ya." Kurt said. "I herd that one of them survived, though. Not sure who. Probably Burnard. He always was a lucky bastard." Rainer formed a light fist. _Lucy. _He thought. He then stared at the Katana. "You'll pay for what you did." He whispered, and he punched his GINN speed to maximum.

Katana

The two GINN's sped towards me. I looked at there mobile suit's colors. They were both Tan yellow, with some darker tan brown in cameo-style paint job, similar to the color scheme of the Grudega mobile suits me and Matthew took out a few days ago.

"_Gelb team." _Matthew said_. _"_Another Aggressor Squadron. Jordan, you need any help?_"

I shook my head. "I think I got this one." I said. "You guys don't worry about me."

I saw the two mobile suits swerve left and right, they were trying to confuse me. _Not gonna happen. _I thought. I fired a shot with my beam rifle, near missing the two mobile suits. They stopped swerving, and then broke apart left, and right. Using the same tactics the Grudega team did, trying to double team me. _It didn't work for them. _I thought. _Its not gonna work for you either. _I accelerated to the one on the right. I drew out my Dauntless sword, and sliced. The GINN parried with its own GINN Sword. Then the second GINN flew in, firing its beam rifle. I jumped forward, dodging the blasts, and parrying a swipe from the first GINN. I then fired a quick burst of Ingleside rounds at him. They hit, and the GINN lost its head.

GINN

_Dammit! _Rainer thought as his GINN's head was blown off, and the camera went dead. "Rainer, you alright?" asked the captain. "I'm fine." He said. "I'll try to get back to the _Hades._" "Good." The captain said. "I'll take care of him."

Katana

_There goes one. _I thought as the GINN limped back home headless. "Now just one left." I said to myself. The last GINN High maneuver type charged forward, firing its beam rifle. I deflected the shots with my shield. When the GINN came close enough, I then charged forward, and rammed my own shield at it. The GINN was hit, the pilot was dazed, and I took this opportunity to whip out my beam sabers, and sliced it in half.

_Hades_

_Bingo. _Zar thought as he saw Kurt Gelb's GINN explode. _There is only one man who could take down an aggressor team like the Gelb team, and survive. It has to be him. _"I will be heading out." Zar said. "Tell all forces they are weapons free on all enemies. But the Katana is _mine._"

"Yes, sir." Dren said. Zar then activated his Custom ZGMF-600 GuAIZ. Painted completely blood red. Armed with a MA-M12 G Beam rifle, two Picus CIWS's, MAMV03 Composite anti-beam coated shield with beam-claws, and the most resent acquirement, a beam saber. This GuAIZ, unlike the other models, has an enhanced engine, and compact battery. It can be in missions longer, and its speed is 3 times faster than any other GuAIZ, giving him the respected and feared name of Satan. "Zar Hellfury, GuAIZ Devil. Launching!" Zar stormed out from the _Hades. _

**Zar Hellfury theme: http: / www . youtube . com /watch?v=eu4tCWTyqds**

"_Ma'am! I've got intense head sources approaching at high speed! New contact launched from Aztec-class Battleship! Making good speed towards the Katana."_ Romeo said. I was listening in on the transmissions on the bridge of the archangel. "_What is it?_" Mu asked. "_It appears to be a GuAIZ._" Romeo said. "_But its moving three-times faster than any other model._"

From the screen on the katana, I could see Sebastian's eyes widen in horror. "_Get a visual on it now!" _He ordered. Another screen popped up, and the GuAIZ appeared. Its whole body was a blood red color. Equipped with a wide-variety of weapons.

I could see the fear in Sebatian's eyes now. "_Oh fuckberries._" He said. "_It just can't be him!_"

"What?" I asked. "Who is it?"

"_Zar Hellfury._" Sebastian said. "_The Devil of Endymion._"

That sent more than just a shiver up my spine. I've read all there is on Zar. He single-handedly sunk 5 ships in the battle of Endymion. And he was heading towards me.

"_Kid, stay as far away from that bastard as you can!_" I herd Ryu say. "_If that fails, Run._" Just then, The GuAIZ was right in front of me. It's Omni-eye glaring at me. "_Pilot of the GAT-X900 Katana._" A voice came in through my speakers. "_Do you hear me?_" _It's Zar! _I thought. My hand pressed the radio. "Yes, I here you." I said as calmly as I could.

"_Hm?_" Zar said. "_Strange, you fight like him, but you do not sound like Alen. Tell me, what is your name?_"

"Jordan Takeo." I said, and I herd Zar chuckle. "_well, well._" He said. "_It would seem it runs in the family. Your father _was _a great mobile suit pilot after all._"

Then my eyes widened. "You know who my father is?" I asked. "Tell me!" Zar laughed louder. "Well, well, well." He said. "Even his temper runs in the family. Tell you what, defeat me, and I'll tell you everything I know about your real father."

I then saw Zar's GuAIZ activate its Beam-Claws on its shield. It then charged towards me. I gunned the Katana's full speed just to avoid the first swipe.

_Shit he's fast! _I thought. As I continued to run, I fired volleys of Ingleside rounds at the Red GuAIZ. But it dodged them like it was nothing!

I then drew out my beam rifle, and started shooting with that. Still missing! That's when the most idiotic idea came into my mind. _I'm screwed either way. _I thought.

That's when I drew my katana sword, and stopped dead. My theory was that the GuAIZ's momentum when it stopped would cause it to hit my sword. I was half-right. The GuAIZ stopped, almost hitting the sword. But it dodged at the last moment. But its beam rifle was destroyed however. "_Interesting._" Zar's voice rang in. _"That was a very clever move, Jordan." _He said. "_You are definitely Alen's son._" Then Zar drew his own beam saber. "_Let me see your swordsmanship for myself._"

_With Kira_

Kira grunted as the Strikes new Katana smashed against Athrun's beam saber in a battle of dominance before she slid out of the way of his second saber and returned the favor with a kick to the Aegis' gut that he dodged by backing off "Finally taking me seriously Athrun?" she questioned as the two suits circled each other both of their allies avoiding the area they were fighting in.

"_Yes,_" he admitted "_I have come to the realization that you are fighting for what you believe in, and I can do nothing to swat that, so I will answer your conviction with my OWN!_" He shot forward again and clashed with the Strike before suddenly shifting to the side and kicking out with one of his feet beam sabers only for Kira to block with the Trikeros before she backed off a little "_There will be no more holding back on my part Kira; I will come at you with everything I have._"

Kira smiled grimly in her suit as she felt something stir in her, she quickly recognized the feeling, Battle Lust, Ryu called it.

Kira steeled herself '_I need to do this._' She resolved herself and allowed the feeling sweep over her and focused completely on Athrun "If you won't hold back than neither shall I!" she stated as she activated the Gunbarrels and started her assault on Athrun.

_With Chris_

Chris narrowed his eyes as he dodged a blast from a GINN carrying a heavy beam cannon, to him the soldiers, while skilled and high in number, did not present the challenge that the pilots of the Le Creuset Team did, not that he wanted to fight them, especially when he compared his current opponents to the pair that Ryu warned them to stay away from. With those two their teamwork was streamlined and flawless, but these guys, while they worked together had many holes that he exploited in an eerily similar manner to that pair. "Is it just me or do you feel like those two Cgue pilots that Ryu warned us about?" He asked his sister as they tore through another GINN.

"_Yeah, I know how you feel,_" she agreed "_I guess we need to work on our teamwork some if we hope to match them._" She proceeded to transform into jet form and fired her Gatling Cannons tearing through another GINN before she moved back to back with the Raven as they protected each other "_I am so glad that Ryu made these upgrades._"

"Here, here!" Chris agreed as he transformed the Raven and fired a series of missiles taking out some of the Missiles that were heading for the Menelaos.

_With Mu_

Mu grunted as he flipped his suit around in a back flip unused to the g-forces that went with such a move before he aimed at the GINN that attacked him and returned fire destroying the suit before noticing a couple more in bound and activated the Gunbarrels and started raining hell upon them. However despite the best efforts of both the Archangel's and their escorts' pilots they were slowly losing the battle as one of the escorts ships blew up in a fiery explosion "Goddammit!" Mu swore as he blocked a salvo of bullets before returning fire with his rifle and Gunbarrels "We're getting creamed out here." Scanning the battle field he saw Ryu currently busy dodging the X's Fangs as he returned fire while Kira was completely occupied with the Aegis showing a level of skill he hasn't seen from the young teen yet. Chris and Liz were in a no better situation as they were occupied by several GINNs that kept switching out tiring out the pair. Sarah and Matthew were busy fighting a team of GINN's that were attempting to attack the Archangel, Sebastian was making his way towards the CGUE, and finally, there was Jordan fighting the Devil of Endymion…and doing a fairly good job at it.

Cursing he ducked under a swing from another GINN he then drew his beam saber and cut the GINNs arm off before kicking it away into another GINN "This is gonna be a lo-o-ong day." He predicted as he prepared himself for the next wave of GINNs.

_With Ryu_

The Dragon Flipped over as a pair of fangs tried to pincer him and destroyed the with a swing of his Mesamune before shooting another destroying the last of the fangs and focused once more on the X "Not bad Rookie," he commended "But not good enough!" charging in, he activated the beam saber of the Trikeros and clashed against the Bayoneted rifle and katana in a struggle for dominance that he was slowly winning when he suddenly opened up with his Igelstellungs forcing the X back even further and followed it up with a slash that removed the left arm of the mobile suit before kicking it and sending it tumbling back.

About to press forward in his attack he paused when the X disarmed itself and raised its remaining hand in surrender "_I've clearly lost this round,_" the pilot admitted "_It seems that I am no match for the legendary Dragon after all._"

Ryu drifted in front of the suit alert for any sign of treachery "What's your name rookie?" he asked genuinely curious.

"_Ragnos sir, Ragnos Vermeer._" The pilot replied proudly.

"Ragnos huh," Ryu mused before turning away "I suggest you leave the field of battle before your killed Ragnos."

Boosting away Ryu paid him no more mind as he charged in and started attacking the suits that were surrounding the Menelaos giving aid to its strained defenders and gazed over the battlefield he saw that, even with the loss of the X, the ZAFT forces had the victory, it was just a matter of when.

"This is nuts!" Sebastian said as he took quick stock of the scene. Strike and Aegis were engaged in another battle. Mu had taken charge of the mobile armors, Chris, and Liz was leading them against the Duel, Buster, Blitz and the GINNS. Ryu was fending off a series of GINN's as well, Matthew and Sarah were defending the Archangel, and Jordan was stuck in a one-on-one fight with the Red Demon of Endymion.

The ZAFT forces were clearly winning. Through it all the Blitz was intentionally staying away from Predator. _Nicol_, Sebastian thought.

_"Hello Connor!"_ an all too familiar voice said, _"Are you ready for round two?" _

"Evans!" Sebastian hissed, and sure enough, a spotted brown CGUE, rocketed toward the Storm Wolf, "You better believe it, cockbite! Last time we were both in CGUEs, and even then, I won. Do you really think you can stop me now that I have a G-weapon?"

"That fancy machine doesn't mean anything! A true pilot can adapt to face any scenario, any opponent. You won't live to see the day! Although, I've got some new toys I'm dying to try out!" Kyle replied.

The Storm Wolf noted that his rival's machine indeed had some new improvements. A beam rifle similar to the one he was carrying at that very moment in one hand, and a big nasty looking laser sword in the other hand.

"Then test your luck against the GAT-X108 Predator!" Sebastian replied by drawing a beam saber and the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due and the Grimaldi Hyena clashed once more.

It started with out with a good old-fashioned beam battle. Kyle, still new to how a beam rifle worked, wildly blasted at Predator, while Sebastian used the Gundam's superior maneuverability and speed to evade most of Evans' attacks. Seeing that his beam rifle wasn't working, Evans pulled out the laser sword, while Predator pulled out a beam saber locking up like the horns of two massive bulls.

"Is this the best you can do?" Sebastian said.

"No, as a matter of fact, it isn't!" Kyle said with an almost maniacal tone to his voice, and he pointed his beam rifle straight at the _Montgomery_, "I can still do THIS!" And three shots were fired. Sebastian could only watch as the ship bearing his uncle went up in flames. He, of course was not the only one to bear witness to this.

"NOOOOOO!" Flay screamed as she saw the _Montgomery_ consumed in explosions.

"That's the price you pay for siding with the Naturals!" and Evan's cruel laughter permeated the air. Predator stood there for a few seconds, Sebastian's knuckles were whitened as he held the controls in a death grip.

"You…miserable…_COCKBITING_**…**_**FUCKTARD!**_" Sebastian roared at his top of his lungs, _**"I'll KILL YOU!**__**"**_ A blue seed fell behind Sebastian's eyes, and spun twice. On the second spin the seed turned gold, and then exploded in a maelstrom of light, a wolf's howl in the background. Sebastian's eyes had turned gold and dilated. He then let off the loudest howl he could manage, and attacked like a wolf set upon by the bloodlust of the hunt.

By this time, the Duel, Buster, and Blitz had finished off the last of the mobile armors, but thanks to Mu's leadership, and assistance from Chris and Liz, the ZAFT forces had suffered as well, with five GINNs lost, Yzak had the others return to the ships.

_"Should we get involved?"_ Dearka asked Yzak.

"Do you see how he's fighting!" Yzak said, "It's just like at Jachin. We'd never stand a chance, even with numbers on our side."

Nicol was once more plagued by his conflicting loyalties and could only watch his best friend continue his grudge match against his rival.

_Archangel_, Bridge

The mood on the bridge had been one of silence when the _Montgomery_ exploded. Flay had gone nearly catatonic. It was in that moment that Natarle acted, making a decision that she would regard in the future as one of the stupidest in her entire life. She grabbed Kuzzey's headset, and spoke.

"Attention all ZAFT forces, I suggest you cease all combat operations at this very moment. We have Lacus Clyne onboard on this vessel. As in Supreme Chairman Siegel Clyne's daughter and I imagine that you would not want anything to happen to her. So think hard about what you do next, should anything happen to her." And she cut the radio link. Murrue looked at her in disbelief.

"I can't believe you said that! Commander Connor will skin you alive when he hears of this!"

"I'd like to see him try!" Natarle hissed. She'd _really_ regret that comment later on!

_With Ryu_

"WHAT IN THE FUCK WAS THAT!" Ryu shouted in rage connecting with the Archangel "Care to explain captain?"

"_I had nothing to do with it Lieutenant Hisanaga,_" Murrue explained hastily "_Ensign Badgiruel acted completely on her own._"

"Ensign, we _will_ be having words when I land." Ryu growled out turning to the Archangel and firing his thrusters to the max "And I can guarantee that Sebastian will also be present."

And audible gulp was heard over the radio as Natarle began to sweat.

_With Jordan,_

My mouth dropped open at what Natarle had just done. "What the hell happened to playing by the book Natarle?" I asked out loud. "Sebastian's gonna kill you."

"_It would seem our fight has come to an undetermined end._" Zar said. "Just so you know, I had NOTHING to do with that, and neither do any of the pilots." I pointed out. "And we do NOT support it!"

Zar chuckled. "_You're just like your Father, ya know?_" He said. "_I'll leave you with this bit of information. Your Father's name is Alen Takeo. He's a mobile suit pilot…and he'd be very proud of you._" With that, the Red GuAIZ retreated.

I sighed as our battle finally came to an end. _They don't call him the Devil of Endymion for nothing. _I thought. "_Yo Jordan, you alright?_" Matthew asked as he and the Slash approached the Katana.

"Ya, I'm fine." I replied. "But, Damn! Does Natarle have a death-wish or something? Seb's gonna KILL her."

"We'll see about that." Matthew said. "But it looks like he's having his own problems at the moment."

Open Space

Sebastian was so overcome with rage his fighting grew more and more reckless and wild. And that was exactly the opening the Grimaldi Hyena was waiting for. With one swipe of his laser sword, Evans removed Predator's head and left arm, jarring the machine, which caused Sebastian to hit the instrument panel, knocking him out, and so he didn't hear what transpired next, for if he had, then he'd really have reason to kill with his bare hands.

"Die!" Evans said, but as he readied the killing blow, The Blitz charged forward, rapidly firing its beam rifle. Nicol had made his choice on where his loyalties lie.

"GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" Nicol roared.

"Nicol!" Athrun shouted, causing the battle between the Strike and Aegis to end.

"Nicol what are you doing!" Dearka yelled.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry you guys, but I have to follow my heart. I've known Sebastian since I was ten years old. I refuse to believe that he's doing this solely on a whim. Next time we meet. It will be as enemies. Please forgive me," Nicol said, and went back to saving his best friend.

The Blitz put itself between Evans' CGUE and Predator, "You want Sebastian? You're going to have to go through me!" Nicol said putting every bit of courage he had forward.

Evans just laughed "Oh look, the little boy is standing up for his big brother! I should have known you would do this, Amalfi! You're weak, just like Connor is."

"You're right! I am standing up for my brother! That what it means to be a friend, looking out for others, something you'll never understand! Besides this machine has some interesting tricks, you won't get Sebastian without going through me!" and with that the Blitz disappeared under Mirage Colloid, and every few seconds it would reappear, fire a few shots, and disappear once more.

"Stand still and face me directly, you coward!" Evans snarled, and then, the Blitz came up from behind and removed the CGUE's head and destroyed the beam rifle.

"Next time, I'll take off a lot more!" Nicol said.

"You haven't changed a bit, Amalfi! Fine then! Go with your brother! Natural lovers should always stick together!" Evans hissed, "Come on you three, we're returning to base" he said to Athrun and the others.

"But sir-", Yzak started.

"We're returning to base!" Evans roared, and the four machines sped back to the _Gamow_.

The Blitz turned to face Predator, and the other G-Weapons and the Patriot joined the other two machines.

"To the pilots of the G-Weapons, please don't fire, I surrender." Nicol said quickly, and to show he was on the level. He stepped out of the cockpit, and held up his hands.

"Who are you kid?" Ryu asked of Nicol.

"My name is Nicol Amalfi. I don't know if Sebastian has told you about me, but I've known him since I was a kid. He's my best friend, and I couldn't let him die."

A groan sounding, signifying that Sebastian had awoken, his eyes returned to normal, "Did anyone get the license plate number of that _Nazca_ that hit me?" he said, he then noticed the Blitz, just hovering there, "Nicol, what are you doing?"

"You were fighting Evans, and he beat you up pretty good. I-I stepped in and saved your life" Nicol replied.

"Nicol, do you have any idea what you've done with this little stunt?" Sebastian said incredulously.

"I know full well of the consequences, and such, I'd like to request permission to come aboard. If you'll let me."

"Lieutenant, we'd be a fool not to do it" Sebastian said.

"Of course, Commander" said Murrue, "We can discuss this further when you're aboard."

"Yes ma'am, Well Nicol, welcome aboard the _Archangel_. I certainly hope you know what you've gotten yourself into."

"All that matters is that we're reunited," Nicol said, and with that the Gundams and the Patriot Zero returned to the ship, although Sebastian would be in for a nasty surprise when he returned.


	13. Phase 10: Savior

Chris silently exited the Raven, a single thought passing unbidden through his head, _I couldn't save him_.

"Chris, are you…okay?" Liz said, but Chris just passed right by her. He was totally oblivious to the world around him, as he returned to his quarters. All he could do was replay the promise he had made to Flay to protect her father, and then the _Montgomery's_ final moments in his head, _I couldn't save him_.

Sebastian pulled himself out of Predator just as Nicol was doing the same with the Blitz. The two young men floated up to each other and stared blue eyes to brown eyes. They stayed that way for all about six seconds, before embracing in a brotherly hug.

"Come here, you!" Sebastian said, smiling, "It's good to see you, little brother."

"It's good to see you too, big brother", Nicol said.

"Even still, Nick. You realize that with this, you're a…"

"A traitor?" Nicol said, "Yeah, I know. But I recall you always said friends come first. Kyle was about to kill you, and I couldn't let that happen. Besides, Matt did it for his little brother. So…why not?"

"You saved my hide out there, Nicol. For that I'm grateful, but I'm still upset that I couldn't save my uncle."

"Uncle?" Nicol said, "I thought your entire family…"

"Died?" Sebastian scoffed, "I did have one relative on my mom's side, my uncle, George Allster. That ship Evans reduced to atoms? He was on it. So now, all I have left is his daughter, my cousin, Flay. And well, until recently she didn't like Coordinators too much. She was making some progress, but I'm afraid with this, she may relapse."

"So what are you going to do?" Nicol said.

"For right now…stay as far away from her as possible" Sebastian said, "I'm the last person she wants to see."

"Don't say that man, she's still family. I'm certain it all work out" Nicol said.

"That's so you, always looking on the bright side," Sebastian smiled as he pulled Nicol in for a noogie, "Where would I be without that attitude of yours in times like this?"

"Bitter and cynical?" Nicol ventured a grin.

"A little too late for that!" Sebastian laughed.

"I'll say!" Matthew shouted out as he joined the two, Followed by Jordan. "Sup Nicole! Good to see ya again!"

"Good to see you too Matt!" Nicole replied, and looked at Jordan. "So is this your Brother?"

Matt smiled. "Lev told you I suppose?" he asked, and Nicole nodded. "Well, yes. He is my little brother."

"Damn, you two look almost identical." Nicole said, looking between the two, noticing only a few differences (A/N: Jordan has shorter hair, and Matthew's is longer and shaggier. He also has a scar along his chin.)

"It runs in the family." They both said simultaneously.

"Come on man, let's get you settled in." Sebastian said. "I'll introduce you to the rest of the pilots later. I imagine that you don't want to walk around in that flight suit all day."

"Wait a second. I'm aboard an Earth Forces ship now. That means I'm going to have to wear the uniform!" Nicol said.

"Don't worry about it. I'm certain you'll look great in blue." Sebastian said. "We'll stop by my quarters, so you can get changed first, and then we'll speak to Lieutenant Ramius about making you part of the crew. You should also know that Lacus is aboard."

"She is?" Nicol said, having heard Natarle's statement from earlier, "You don't say, how did that happen?"

"Long story", Sebastian sighed as headed out the door.

_Man, if Sebastian found out what they were going to do to Lacus, he'd skin them alive…literally!_

_Jordan _

I sighed as Nicole and Sebastian walked away. "God have mercy on Natarle right now." I muttered. "She's gonna get destroyed."

"You got that right!" Ryu shouted as he headed towards the two. "I'd do it myself…but I believe adding me into the mix might be overkill. This is a more personal matter for Sebastian. Though I have to say you all did a fine job out there. If it wasn't for Miss I-do-it-by-the-book, we actually could have won that battle." He then faced Jordan. "And I'm sure you would have won against Zar." Ryu said.

Jordan scratched the back of his head. "I…it wasn't that big." He said. "I just…held him off everyone else. Truth be told, I don't know how I'm still alive."

"It's called skills, kid." Ryu said. "It takes more than luck to fight the Devil of Endymion. Hell, I should know. I fought him once, and our battle ended in a draw. You've got a rare talent in piloting Jordan, don't deny it."

Jordan blushed at the praise and blushed further when Sarah came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. "He's right, Jordan." She said. "You did a great job out there."

Jordan smiled with a light blush. "Thanks Sarah."

Archangel, Officer's quarters corridor

Sebastian waited out in the hallway outside his quarters. The green haired pilot soon emerged now in the same Earth Forces volunteer blue that his friend wore.

"Never thought I would find myself wearing this," Nicol said.

"My, and Matthew's exact words when we first put them on" Sebastian replied.

"Do you think that I'll be welcome here?" Nicol asked as they set off for the bridge, "I mean, I am a ZAFT pilot and all."

"On most other Earth Alliance ships, you'd definitely have something to worry about. However, I've gotten to know these people in the last few weeks, and this particular crew, doesn't seem to have the same prejudice that most other Earth Forces members have, and besides they took in Matthew who's Jordan's Brother. You're my best friend, and the same thing goes. If they tried anything, they'd answer to me."

The two pilots emerged on the bridge, as Sebastian and Nicol walked to Murrue's command chair, they could see Mu was also present.

"Lieutenant Ramius," Sebastian said, saluting, with Nicol following suit, "This is Pilot Nicol Amalfi, pretty much my best friend in the world. I'm hoping that we can add him to the crew. If you will allow it."

Murrue shifted uncomfortably in her seat, not really paying attention, then she spoke "Commander, there's something that you should be made aware of. Can we discuss this further in my office…alone?"

"Okay," Sebastian said, "Nicol, this should only take a few minutes" and the two exited.

"I hope you're praying for the soul of the person who made that transmission," Nicol said.

"You sure?" Mu said.

"If someone threatens Lacus, they're effectively signing they're own death warrant. Let see, three…two…one", and the door to Murrue's office neared exploding off its hinges and Commander Sebastian Andrew Connor, the Storm Wolf of Jachin Due emerged, a look of pure murderous rage on his face, and his sword in hand.

"Nicol, Lieutenant La Flagga, please excuse me for what's about to happen," Sebastian said in all too calm voice, before he marched to the CIC. A scream and the sound of a punch landed were heard, and he dragged Ensign Natarle Badgiruel out by her hair. She already had a nasty bruise on her cheek, suggesting she had been hit. Sebastian then held her by the throat, staring eye to eye.

"Ensign, let me be blunt. If this had happened and you were in my unit. You'd by dead in this very moment" Sebastian growled, "However; I'm in a giving mood today so I'll spare you…once. Next time you EVER think of using such dishonorable tactics again, you're dead, and I'll make sure they never find the body! But still, here's a going away present!" Sebastian raised his sword and struck Natarle with the flat of the blade, causing her eyes to roll up into her skull, and flew backwards before crashing into the wall.

"If you'll excuse me, Lieutenant, where is my cousin?" Sebastian said, much calmer, but the hostility still present, "I probably should see her."

"She's in the infirmary," Murrue said, "Mr. Argyle took her."

"Thank you," Sebastian said, "now about Nicol."

"If he's you best friend, then he's probably trustworthy" Murrue said just wanting to move on, "If Matthew was fine, then I have no objections. Would you agree Lieutenant La Flagga?"

"Sure, if the Storm Wolf says he's good, then he's good. Ryu's already agreed as well. Welcome aboard Pilot Amalfi."

"Thank you, Lieutenant", Nicol said, saluting both Mu and Murrue.

"Uh, ma'am", Kuzzey said, "What about Ensign Badgiruel?"

"Just leave her there," Murrue said an evil grin on her face, "She'll wake up soon enough. Who are we to bother her?"

_Archangel, Infirmary_

Sebastian entered to find his cousin lying on a bed, her expression peaceful for the moment, Sai sitting next to it.

"Oh, hey Sebastian", Sai said, moving to leave. But the Storm Wolf stopped him.

"Thank you for staying for by her," Sebastian said.

"It's the least I can do," Sai said, "You should know Sebastian, that I'm engaged to Flay."

"Really, well then, I suppose I should say congrats."

"Nothing's happened yet" Sai said, "It's just an engagement."

"What do you mean?" Sebastian said, cocking his head.

"The marriage was arranged between our parents. We really didn't have any say in it," Sai replied, "But, she's a wonderful girl, and I do care about her."

"Well, as far as arranged marriages go, I'm not crazy about that kind of thing. But I'm not one to complain. You're a good guy, Sai, and I'd be happy to have you as family. I just came to check on her, is she okay?"

"She was near catatonic when I brought her here, but other than that, she seems to be okay."

"Okay, thanks Sai. I'll be in my quarters if you need me." To which he just nodded. If Sebastian had stayed just a little bit longer, then he would have been witness to a chain of events that might have unfolded quite differently.

Flay sat bolt upright, recollecting what had happened, and then coming to realization that it wasn't a dream. Sai reached out to touch her, and she slapped his hand away.

"Get away from me!" she hissed.

"Flay, what are you doing?" Sai spluttered, totally off guard by her behavior.

"Why weren't you out there?" Flay said accusingly, "Why weren't you out there helping Sebastian to protect my father?"

As much as Sai moved his mouth, he couldn't bring himself to form words.

"It's over between us!" Flay said, "WE ARE THROUGH!" And with that she left, leaving her now former fiancé behind.

_Archangel _Jordan and Sarah's Quarters

I smiled when I herd a distant scream as I worked on the Computer. "You think Sebastian's gonna kill Natarle?" Sarah asked as she lied down in the bed. I shrugged. "Might, might not." I said. "But we still need _someone _on the CIC so I'll say he'll let her off with at _warning._" I continued typing. "What are you doing?" Sarah asked as she stood up and looked at what I was working at.

"Well," I said. "I'm designing some personal Upgrades for our machines. Like a Katana variant of the Aile strike pack, so that it can fly in atmosphere. I'm also working on another Katana pack that mixes a few of the other packs together. And I'm also designing some Mobile suit schematics. Just for the heck of it really."

"You're sounding like you going to stay." Sarah said, and I sighed as I leaned back in the chair. "I don't know, Sarah." I admitted. "I just don't know. At first, I just wanted to stay to protect our friends…and hopefully get that Akuma pilot Kane Hellfury." I balled my hand into a fist at the mention of his name. "But now…"

"It's me isn't it?" Sarah asked. I simply nodded. "You're worried that I'll stay? And you want me to be safe?"

Again, I nodded. "Sarah I…" I said. "If you were too got hurt because of me I could never forgive myself. But…"

"Jordan." Sarah said. "Let me make this clear, _you don't have to worry._ We're both experienced mobile suit pilots now. I can handle myself, and you can handle yourself." She then wrapped her arms around me. "And we can both watch over each other. I too want to stay. I want this war to end finally."

Sarah then looked at her left hand. "Jordan…our innocence was lost back at Heliopolis." She said. "Both you and I have killed people now, and we've seen how bad this war really is." She then stared straight into my eyes. "Should we fight, trying to end the war? Or should we return to peace, knowing how fragile it is?"

_Meanwhile_

Ryu looked up as he and Kira headed towards their rooms, and Grinned. _Some of the others have made their choice. _He thought. _And I think I know who. _

_Back with Jordan and Sarah_

I sighed as Sarah smiled. "You're right." I admitted. "Everything's changed now." I then saved my data, and turned off the computer. "Well, that's enough for today." I said as I made my way to my bunk.

Sarah grabbed my wrist and stopped me. "Is it ok if we can…you know…" she said, blushing as she eyed one of the beds.

I smile gently and kissed Sarah before lying next to her facing her while drawing her close "Of course Sarah." I whispered gently as she wrapped her arms around me and nuzzled my chest smiling as she drifted off to sleep. Kissing the top of her head I drew the blankets over us before falling asleep myself.

_Archangel, _Sebastian's quarters

Sebastian groaned and crashed onto his bed, "Well Barger, I really screwed the pooch this time huh?" He said to the stuffed wolf which had since taken up residence on the computer desk, "I get my family back, and then I lose them all over again. Uncle George is dead, and Flay will probably never want anything to do with me. It's a shame. She had made such progress from being a Blue Cosmos wannabe, now it's all but guaranteed that she'll join them."

The only response that Sebastian got from Barger was the light glinted off his glass button eyes, "You're a big help, you know that?" Sebastian said, and a knock came on the hatch.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" Sebastian said as he opened the door. His eyes widened when he saw Flay standing there, "Flay?" was all he could get out before the redhead threw her arms around his neck in a sisterly hug.

"What are you doing?" Sebastian said when he found his voice.

"Hugging my cousin, is that a crime?" Flay said.

"Flay, do you remember what happened? Your father's dead! I promised to protect him, and I couldn't even do that."

"I tell you what I remember, Sebastian Connor. I remember you fighting with everything you have, you, Kira, Chris, Liz, Sarah, Jordan, Matthew, Ryu and Lieutenant La Flagga" Flay smiled, "That's what I remember."

"I didn't think you'd want anything to do with me or any of the others for that matter. I mean, given how you used to feel about Coordinators."

"You're right. I was scared of what I didn't understand. I really didn't know anything. But things changed. Chris saving me at Artemis, and then you revealed we were family, and my father always taught me that family comes first" said Flay, "You're all I have left, Sebastian. I don't want to lose you."

"I can understand how Chris earned your respect, saving a person's life can do that, but you're okay with me, just because we're family? That's it?" Sebastian said.

"Does there have to be anything more to it? Do I have to have some long, drawn out explanation for loving my family?"

"Actually no, I hate long drawn out explanations, let's just leave it at that you're the only surviving family I have left and vice versa. Come here, cuz." and the two embraced once more.

"When we get some time, you have to tell me about your mom. I want to know all about her," Flay smiled, but then her look darkened, "I will ask you this, who was the pilot of that mobile suit that destroyed the _Montgomery_? Who was it that murdered my father?"

"His name is Kyle Evans, the Grimaldi Hyena. And let me tell you this, he's no friend of mine. We have a long history with each other, and he's the only man I hate more than Rau Le Creuset. Don't worry, Flay. Last time, he got lucky because I lost my temper. I won't give him that luxury again! You should go and see Chris, let him know that there are no hard feelings."

"Okay, see you later!" and Flay left.

_Archangel_, Chris's quarters

Chris sat in his darkened quarters, in his uniform pants and t-shirt, his jacket discarded on the other bunk.

_I couldn't save him,_ was all Chris could think as he stared at the gun in his hands, _I promised Flay I would protect him, but I couldn't. I was just starting to get somewhere with her, and now, she'll hate me more than ever. If I couldn't protect him, how could I possibly protect Liz, or any of the others? This world will just be better off without me. I'm sorry, Flay. I'll always love you, even if you don't feel that way. _

Chris put the barrel of the gun in his mouth, ready to free himself from his pain, _Goodbye, Flay_, he thought.

At that exact moment the hatch opened and a certain red-haired girl in a pink dress entered, she only stared for a few seconds of the gun in Chris's mouth.

"CHRIS! NO!" Flay shrieked, startling the young Coordinator enough for her to wrench the gun out of his hands and toss it out into the corridor. Flay then promptly wound up and slapped Chris as hard as she could.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Flay screamed, "HOW COULD YOU BE SO SELFISH!"

"BECAUSE I WANT THE PAIN TO END! I TRIED TO SAVE HIM! I tried to save him!" Chris said, falling onto his bunk. He curled up into a ball, and broke down, "I wanted to save him. I really did. I wanted to tell him how I felt about you. I wanted to tell him, that I love you."

Flay gasped, and put a hand to her heart, "you, love me?" She was overcome with emotion. Flay couldn't help smiling.

"Don't cry, Chris. You won't be alone anymore" Flay said softly, lying down next to him on the bed, "I'll always stay by your side". She took Chris into her arms, and remembered a song that her mother used to sing to her, a song that always calmed her. And so she began to sing to Chris, her voice wasn't crystal like Lacus', but it was still melodic and beautiful.

**LINK: http : / www . youtube . com /watch?v=JIVaUcE4kAM**

_Come stop your crying, It will be all right  
Just take my hand, Hold it tight  
I will protect you from all around you  
I will be here Don't you cry _

_For one so small, you seem so strong  
My arms will hold you keep you safe and warm  
This bond between us can't be broken  
I will be here don't you cry _

_Cause you'll be in my heart  
Yes, you'll be in my heart  
From this day on  
Now and forever more  
You'll be in my heart  
No matter what they say  
You'll be here in my heart  
Always _

_Why can't they understand the way we feel  
They just don't trust what they can't explain  
I know we're different but deep inside us  
We're not that different at all _

_Cause you'll be in my heart  
Yes, you'll be in my heart  
From this day on  
Now and forever more _

_Don't listen to them, cause what do they know  
We need each other, to have and to hold  
They'll see in time, I know _

_When destiny calls you, you must be strong  
I may not be with you, but you gotta hold on  
They'll see in time, I know _

_We'll show them together cause... _

_You'll be in my heart  
Believe me, you'll be in my heart  
I'll be there from this day on  
Now and forever oh oh _

_You'll be here in my heart (You'll be here in my heart)  
No matter what they say (I'll be with you)  
you'll be here in my heart always _

_I'll be there always  
Always...  
I'll be with you  
I'll be there for you always  
Always and always  
Just look over your shoulder  
Just look over your shoulder  
Just look over your shoulder  
I'll be there always_

Flay smiled and blushed. Chris's even breathing told her that he was asleep, and his expression was peaceful. He would make it through the night but it was clear that she couldn't leave him alone, should he try something like this again. Flay found herself falling for the young Coordinator, all she wanted in that moment was to comfort him, and maybe they could get through their pain together. She removed her hair band, and shook her flaming red locks free, and then removed her dress, leaving her in just a pink tank top and panties. She snuggled back up to Chris.

"Don't worry Chris, I'll protect you," Flay whispered, kissing him right on the lips and pulling the covers around them. Flay then stroked Chris's hair and made soft cooing sounds to him before she drifted off to sleep, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest to hide her reddened cheeks, and a sweet smile on her face. The reluctant warrior was at peace for the time being, thanks to the love of his ballerina princess.

_Hallway_

From outside the door Liz smiled softly as tears of relief slid down her cheeks "Thank you Flay," She whispered "Thank you for saving my brother."

_Ryu and Kira's room_

Ryu frowned as he felt the distress echo through the ship before a soothing presence filled it, looking over to Kira he saw her confused look "What was that?" She muttered placing a hand on her forehead.

"That Kira was a Newtype reaction," Ryu stated surprising his girlfriend "I think I'll need to talk to you and the others tomorrow, something unprecedented happen."

Kira looked at Ryu who was looking off into the distance wit a frown on his face '_This can't be just coincidence,_' Ryu thought '_Is it fate? Fate that the majority of the pilots of the G-weapons are awakening as Newtypes? Or is there something else at play?_'


	14. Phase 11: Returning

Sebastian tore down the corridor to Chris's quarters, followed hot on the heels by Tolle, Mir, Kuzzey, and Sai. After Chris virtually disappeared after the battle, it had raised concern. When Murdoch said that he had seen Chris with the look of a broken man, Sebastian had raced for his quarters, with his friends close behind.

As they approached his Quarters, they saw Liz walking calmly away when she noticed the others. "Whoa, where's the fire?" Liz asked.

"Murdock said Chris wasn't looking too…confident after the battle, and that he had the face of a broken man." Sebastian said. "And now that none of us have seen him in a while-"

"Chris is fine, guys." Liz reassured, causing the others to look at her in disbelief. "What?" Sebastian asked.

"I also wanted to make sure my brother wouldn't do anything stupid." Liz said. "When I got to his quarters, I found that Flay just stopped Chris from killing himself."

"WHAT!" Was the collective response from most of the Volunteers, while Sebastian's eyes simply widened.

Liz nodded. "I saw it myself." She said. "If it wasn't for Flay…" she left it trail after that.

Sebastian sighed in relief. "Well, that's good." He said. "So where are they now?"

Liz grinned slightly; which was all the answer Sebastian needed.

"They're sleeping together, aren't they?" Sebastian said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. This raised Sai's attention.

"What?" he said, his face turned red but he wasn't blushing, "Why those…" He tried to move past them, but Sebastian blocked his path.

"Hold it right there, Mr. Argyle!" Sebastian said in his best "commander's voice".

"Why should I" Sai growled, "He's in bed with my fiancée!"

"Former fiancée you mean", Tolle said which caused Sai to take a swing at him, which Sebastian intercepted. Sai quelled under the Storm Wolf's steel blue glare.

"Big mistake, Mr. Argyle, big mistake" Sebastian said coolly and evenly, "I think you need some time to cool off. Mr. Koenig, Mr. Buskirk. Please see to it that your friend is taken to his quarters and kept there for awhile." And Tolle and Kuzzey forcefully escorted Sai away, just as Murrue, Mu, Kira and Ryu came up.

"Okay, how bad is it?" Murrue said, fully prepared for the worst.

"You two look and see for yourselves" Sebastian said, the same grin from when he called Allster "Uncle" for the first time on his face.

"Whoa!" Mu said, "These kids today sure don't waste any time, do they?"

"Sebastian, is there a reason why Flay would be sleeping with Chris?" Kira asked.

"I can think of a pretty good reason, Kira, look there on the floor" the ZAFT pilot replied, indicating the discarded pistol that was still lying on the floor outside of Chris's quarters, which he then picked up, "Liz said that Chris was close to committing suicide if Miss Allster here didn't stop him, and he was going to use this gun to do it."

"Why would he do such a thing?" Murrue said.

"Think about it Murrue, up until just a few weeks ago, Chris and his friends were ordinary teens, going to school, hanging out together, not a care in the world with the exception of Ryu here. And then they get thrown into a war they want nothing to do with in the first place. Wouldn't you be just a little upset?" Sebastian said. Kira nodded.

"I suppose so, but committing suicide?" Murrue replied.

"That is just a little extreme" Mu added.

"Take everything into account that's happened over the past three weeks. Chris, Liz, everyone is practically forced to fly the Gundam's, even though Chris hates it. Furthermore, Chris always had a serious crush on Flay. She asked everyone of us to protect her father, we failed in that regard." Ryu said as Sebastian nodded."Failing to protect the father of the girl he secretly loved, plus everything that happened at Heliopolis, Artemis, and the Debris Belt, it was too much for him. I know exactly what he's going through, all too well." He finished.

"What do you mean?" Kira asked. Sebastian's eyes took on a truly mournful expression.

"Because I nearly did the same thing myself," Sebastian said, "I nearly committed suicide after the Bloody Valentine."

"Oh Sebastian," Mir said, giving the Storm Wolf a gentle hug as Mu put a hand on his shoulder.

"After watching my home go up in nuclear fire, it all but destroyed me" Sebastian said, not afraid to let the tears flow, "I spent an entire day just floating meaninglessly about the _Galvani_. Trying to find some answer to it all, I was heading to my quarters, fully intending to do what Chris almost did, when I heard the most beautiful sound in the world. I heard Lacus singing."

"He's right you know" a soft voice came from behind, they all turned to see Lacus and Mr. Pink coming down the corridor, "He said that he thought it was the sound of an angel." Sebastian left Mir's embrace for that of his fiancée's.

"A lot of the boys in ZAFT are fans of Lacus' songs, and one of them was playing her latest album. It gave me new reason to live, and I was reminded of the first time I met her. I had saved her life when a Blue Cosmos operative tried to kill her at the concert she was giving. She called me her knight in shining armor."

"That's exactly what you are, Sebastian. Don't you dare let anyone tell you otherwise," Lacus said, and the two shared a delicate kiss.

"Once they wake up, then by all means, we'll talk about where this relationship of theirs is going to go, but I think the best thing we can do right now, is to let Chris and Flay have this quiet time" Sebastian said, "Would you agree with me?" to which the four simply nodded, "Then let's get out of here" and so the eight left the young warrior and his ballerina princess to continue their peaceful slumber.

_With Jordan and Sarah_

I groaned as I finally woke up. the first thing I noticed was that there was a unfamiliar weight on top of me. As I opened my eyes, I noticed that Sarah was still sleeping, a gentle, and calm look on her face.

I smiled. _It only took the destruction of a colony, the Gundams, Artemis, and an almost one-sided battle for us to finally admit our feelings for each other. _I thought. _And some manipulation from Matthew, Liz, Sebastian, and a certain Pink-haired singer. _

At that moment, Sarah started to stir, and her eyes fluttered open. "Morning Sarah." I said.

"Morning." She said, with a smile. "I'll admit, that was the best sleep in my life so far."

"Maybe it had something to do with your choice of pillow?" I asked with a grin. She blushed slightly and nodded as she got out of bed. "You think Sebastian killed Natarle?" She asked. "Probably not." I said. "Seb works with three strikes in these kinds of situations. First strike: You get a strict warning shot. Second Strike: Retaliation. And Third Strike: sorry, your dead. Natarle just got first strike. And hopefully she wised up by now to NEVER get on Sebastian's bad side again. Oh and by the way, nice hair."

Sarah gave me a questioned look, and she ran her fingers through her hair. "Dammit! Freaking bed heads!" She muttered as she made her way to the shower.

I chuckled slightly. "Women and their hair." I muttered as I got ready to get into my own shower.

_Archangel_, Chris's quarters

Halfway between sleep and lucidity, Chris stirred. He immediately made some conclusions. Somehow he had gotten from the cockpit of the Raven in the midst of battle, to his quarters, where he was lying in bed. Furthermore, something soft and warm was pressed up to and hugging him, and he was hugging it back. Chris's eyes slowly opened up and the first thing he saw was red, a brilliant flame red that he had only seen in one place. His vision cleared to see Flay snuggled up next to him, sound asleep and smiling.

Chris's first instinct was to leap out of bed faster than the speed of light away from Flay's grasp, but that wasn't possible, as in their sleep Chris's arms had unconsciously wrapped around Flay's waist, and any attempt to pull himself away would no doubt result in Flay's awakening, So Chris was stuck, pondering what had happened.

_What the hell just happened?_ Chris thought, _Okay, back up, we were rendezvousing with the advance force, ZAFT attacked, I was fighting with Mu and Liz, Sebastian was fighting Evans, Ryu the X, Kira fighting the Aegis, and Jordan was fighting a Red GuAIZ, and then…Oh shit! _It all came back to the Coordinator in that moment, the destruction of the _Montgomery_, Sebastian's berserk attack on Evans. Nicol's turning _I failed to protect Flay's father. Why's Flay here? My god, did we? _Chris was relieved to find that he was in his undershirt, and uniform pants, but blushed slightly when he saw Flay's tank top and panties. _Well, at least we didn't_ _go_ that _far_. Chris thought.

A petite yawn stirred Chris from his train of thought, and a set of blue eyes opened, locking with his Grayish-green orbs, "Uh, hi" Chris said simply.

"Hi yourself" Flay cooed back to him in a sweet tone.

"Flay, what's going on here?" He said, "Why are you in bed with me?"

"You don't remember? You were going to commit suicide, because you felt so guilty about not protecting my father, and I stopped you," Flay said, "You looked so pitiful, just lying there, crying. And then said you loved me, all I wanted was to comfort you. You did mean what you said, didn't you?" She said, a mischievous, playful smile forming.

"Y-Yeah, I did" Chris said, becoming speechless at Flay's antics.

"I want you to know, that I'll always be there for you, Christopher Dante. I'll protect you with my heart, my feelings, all of my love" Flay said smiling and she reached up and kissed him.

"In that case, I'll protect you too, Flay Allster, with my very life if I have to" Chris said, with new purpose in his voice, "I was fighting to protect my friends the whole time, and I still am, but now I have another reason. I want to see this war end once and for all. If I can make a difference then I'll do it."

"And I'll be right there alongside you every step of the way, don't you ever forget that Kira" Flay said, "We'd better get dressed, if someone comes in and finds us this way, it'll lead to some hard questions to answer."

After getting dressed, Chris and Flay walked through the corridors hand-in-hand, not caring if anyone saw their newfound love. They headed off to find Ryu and the others, not knowing that the man in question was also looking for them. They ran into each other just near the cafeteria where most of the other pilots were.

"Ah just who I was looking for, let me say first off, congrats, it's about time you two got together. " Ryu said quickly, "But I need to speak to you and the others about something very important. It's kind of private."

"What is it? Is there a problem?" Flay asked.

"Not quite, It's just something the pilots should know." Ryu said. "You can stay if you want Flay, not that it changes much." Flay nodded, and the two sat between Sarah and Liz.

"Now that you're all here, minus Sebastian who already knows this, there is something I need to tell all of you." Ryu said, drawing their attention. "First, I need to ask you all something. When you're in combat, or any situation, do you ever get a feeling like you should suddenly dodge left even when you see no reason too? And when you do, you realize if you stayed at your last position, you might have been killed? Or you can suddenly sense people's emotions around you?"

Though they were first confused, they then looked at each other and nodded. "Come to think of it, yes." Kira said. "Suddenly, especially in the last battle, I could almost see what attacks the Aegis was going to make."

Ryu nodded. "As I thought." He said. "Most of you probably don't know what it has to do with anything, but have you ever heard of Newtype's?"

Most of the Pilots just looked at each other. "I've heard Rumors about Newtype's." Jordan said. "I've heard that they are people who have potential to use Gunbarrels and DRAGOON's like on the X, the Zero, and the Gunbarrel strike."

"That's just some abilities of Newtype's, Jordan." Ryu said. "Some of you already know this, but most humans, even Coordinators, only use about 10% of their brain. However, in recent years, Humans both Natural and Coordinator have been gaining strange abilities. From being able to read people's minds, having a 6th Danger sense, and as Jordan pointed out, operating weapons like DRAGOON's and Gunbarrels." He then sighed. "The Moebius Zero Project was created with this theory in mind. Creating people like Me, Mu, and the rest of the Moebius Zero Corps who have the potential to do things like that. And I've been noticing that many of you have been gaining a danger senses, and Kira is obviously able to use Wired Gunbarrels."

"Are you telling us that we could be Newtypes like you and Lieutenant La Flagga?" Chris asked.

Ryu sighed. "Yes." He said. "But what's strange is that it seems all of the people who are piloting the Gundams are becoming Newtype's. and I think it's more than a coincidence."

"But what does this mean?" Liz asked. "What does that make us?"

"In my opinion, it doesn't really matter." Jordan said, drawing attention. "So what we could be a little better than most people. We're still human, and we're still who we were a few days ago. And besides…" he then grinned as he looked at Ryu, he then waved his hand once and said: "These aren't the Droid's you're looking for." He said in an Obi-wan-like voice. Matthew then smacked him on the side of the head. "OW!" he shouted. "What was that for?"

"For making a reference to a movie that we didn't need." Matthew said. That was when Sebastian walked in. "I hope I'm not interrupting something." He said.

"No, we were just finishing up really." Ryu said. Sebastian nodded. "Guys I need to speak to you about something very important in my quarters. It's kind of private."

"Is there a problem?" Flay asked.

"Not quite, my dear cousin, I just need your help getting Lacus back to ZAFT hands."

"Why? You were just reunited with her, why make her leave so soon?" Flay said.

"Come with me and I'll explain", Sebastian said, and the pilots and Flay headed for Sebastian's headquarters. Quite a crowd had gathered, Nicol, Lacus, Mir, Kuzzey, Sai, and Tolle. Sai glared at Chris and Flay for a few seconds, but stopped with a glare from the Storm Wolf. After introducing Nicol to the others, Sebastian outlined his plan.

"Listen guys, it's just not safe for Lacus to remain here on the _Archangel_. I mean, we all heard Badgiruel's little statement earlier. The Earth Alliance wouldn't hesitate to use Lacus as some kind of propaganda tool, and if she ever outlived her usefulness, they'd kill her, well sorry, that's not happening as long as I'm around" Sebastian said. "That goes double for me." Ryu said. The others all nodded.

"I'm going to take Lacus near the _Vesalius_, hail them and ask that someone come out to retrieve her."

"Uh, small problem with that" Kuzzey pointed out, "How are you going to past security? I doubt that they'd let you waltz right by if you told them what you were going to do."

"You're absolutely right, Mr. Buskirk, that's where you guys come in. all four of you go on duty soon, correct? I need you guys to scramble the interior cameras long enough for Kira, Nicol, Chris, and myself to get Lacus to the hanger and launch."

"Just the four of us?" Kira asked, Sebastian nodded. "No need for everyone to go out." He said. "Just the four of us will be enough."

"I hate to say this, Sebastian, but what are you going to fly?" Nicole said. "As I recall, Evans did a pretty heavy number on your machine."

"No worries, little brother. After we lost you guys at Artemis, we made a trip through the Debris Field, specifically, to Junius Seven, where I picked up my old CGUE," Sebastian said, "I'll fly with Lacus in that, Kira, Chris, you two will be my wingmen in the Strike and Raven. Nicol, you'll be our lookout in the Blitz. I want you under Mirage Colloid while this is happening. You know old Rau as well as I do, Nick. You know that he'll pull some kind of trap. He's sneaky that way." To which Nicol merely nodded.

"What if we're caught?" Mir said.

"Mir, once we launch, they'll know we're up to something anyway. When it comes to that, I'll take full responsibility for it. It was my idea to begin with. I'll just have to remind old Nattie of her previous actions. Besides, this is the right thing to do. And don't you say you'll share some of the Blame Ryu." Sebastian said as Ryu was about to say something, and he fell silent, "Okay, everyone. We all know what needs to be done. Let's do it!"

"Is there any way I can help?" Flay said, "I want to be a part of this."

"You'll come with me, Lacus, Nicol, Chris, and Kira. Even if the others do disable the cameras, there'll still people in the halls, you and the others can be our lookouts for that."

"Will do!" Flay said, giving a mock salute. "You can count on us." Jordan said as the others nodded.

"Let's go to work!" Sebastian said, and everyone filed out of his quarters, although Sai held Chris back.

"Chris…I've got something I need to tell you," Sai said.

"Yeah, what is it?" Chris asked.

"Sebastian told me what happened between you and Flay. I was pissed, and with good reason," Sai said, "He told me she stopped you from committing suicide, and he also said that you loved her, greatly. I was wrong. I know you two will be happy together, but I still expect you to take care of her."

"So that's it? You're just leaving it at that?" Chris said, very surprised.

"Yeah, but only because Sebastian threatened to do bodily harm to me." Sai said, "Chris, you'll come back won't you?"

"Of course, I have to for Flay," Chris said, and the two headed off for their respective positions.

_Archangel_, pilot's ready room.

Kira, Sebastian, Chris, and Nicol quickly hurried into their flight suits, while Flay manned the door, watching for any passersby. The others were spread out across the Archangel, making sure no one headed their way.

"Here," Chris said, handing Lacus a spacesuit, "Put this on over what…you're…wearing."

"Uh, I think I see a little problem here", Nicol said, noting Lacus' puffy dress

"Good point, Nick" Sebastian said.

"Oh, right" she said, Lacus stripped off her skirt, revealing her pink, lacy panties, causing the three male pilots eyes to bug out and elucidated giggles from Flay, Kira and Lacus.

"What the matter boys?" Kira said, "Never seen a girl in her underwear before?"

"Just help Lacus get dressed!" Sebastian said, his face as red as his cousin's hair. The three male pilots turned around as Flay and Kira helped Lacus get into her spacesuit. When they turned around they saw a massive bulge in her stomach.

"I'm not even going to ask," Sebastian said, "Let's just go and get this done. Flay, return to our quarters. The four of us can finish this."

"Sebastian, you guys will come back, won't you?" Flay asked.

"Of course, Flay. I have no intention of leaving", Sebastian said.

"Neither do I," Chris added, "We just got together after all."

"And I've still got Ryu here, and I'll be damned if I abandon him." Kira said.

"Be safe, you two," Flay said, hugging Sebastian and Chris.

"What about me?" Nicol said, sounding just a little bit hurt.

"You come back too, I'd like to get to know my other brother better" Flay said, "Good luck, everyone!" Flay blew a kiss to her boyfriend, and cousin, and disappeared out the door.

The five made their way to the hanger, Sebastian led Lacus to his CGUE, and as Kira, Chris and Nicol were boarding their respective machines, Murdoch came in.

"What are you doing?" he yelled at Sebastian.

"The right thing," Sebastian simply replied, "Don't try and stop us."

Sebastian's CGUE and the Strike launched first, the Blitz and Raven soon followed, and then the stealth mobile suit cloaked itself under Mirage Colloid.

_Archangel_, Bridge

"What's going on?" Natarle said, "Who gave authorization for the Strike, Blitz, Raven, and Commander Connor's CGUE to take off?"

_"Easy, no one did!"_ Sebastian's voice came through on the PA, _"This is solely on my own initiative. I'm not about to let you use my fiancée as a bargaining chip!"_

"Commander Connor, you, Mrs. Yamato, Mr. Dante, and Mr. Amalfi will return to the _Archangel_ immediately!" Natarle barked.

_"We'll be happy to, once we're done!"_ Sebastian said, and cut her off.

_"Forget it, Ensign, he's not going to stop,"_ Mu said form the cockpit of the Zero, _"If we tried to interfere. All four of them would probably just attack us."_

"_And I'd probably help._" Ryu said in the Dragon with an innocent smile, so innocent you would judge him guilty from it alone.

Open space, near the _Vesalius_

Sebastian's CGUE, followed closely by the Strike and Raven, made their way towards the _Vesalius_. The Blitz, still under cloak, remained halfway between them and the _Archangel_, at a slightly higher orientation, giving him a full view of the area, just in case someone pulled something.

_"This is Commander Sebastian Connor, flying off the E.A.S Archangel. We have Lacus Clyne in our possession, and we are on our way to turn her back over to you. The Vesalius will shut off its engines and come to a complete stop, we will be met by the pilot of the Aegis, and _only_ the pilot of the Aegis. If you fail to comply, then I can't guarantee Miss Clyne's safety," _Sebastian said.

"This could be a trap" Ades said, "They have three machines out there already, They could have the others waiting nearby."

_"Sir, let me go out there"_ Athrun said, _"Maybe I can find something out. Besides which, I've know Lacus since we were small children."_

"Very well, I'll authorize it," Le Creuset said, a devious smirk on his face.

"I still think it's a trap" Ades said.

"Perhaps," Le Creuset said, "Or it could be a blessing in disguise. Bring the ship to a halt and prepare my CGUE. I'm going out there."

Open Space.

"Here he comes," Sebastian said, "Kira, Nicol, Chris, be ready."

_"Got it"_ Kira said, "_Wilco_" Chris said, and once the Aegis came to a halt near the Strike, Raven and the CGUE, a beam rifle came up.

"Open your cockpit so I can see you!" Sebastian said, and Athrun did so, Sebastian soon followed, "Lacus, say something to him, he can't see your face from here and so he needs to know it's you."

"Of course, hello Athrun!" Lacus said, "It's so good to see you!"

"I confirm it!" Athrun said, "It is Lacus!"

"Athrun, I'm turning her over to you, see to it that she returns to the PLANTs safely", Sebastian said.

"You should come back with us! It's where you belong!" Athrun said.

"I'm sorry, Pilot Zala," Sebastian said, "But I can't do that. I have to stay my course. Any loyalty I had toward ZAFT has been destroyed."

"What?" Athrun said, "I don't understand."

"Let's just say I refuse to be associated with your father and his horde of mass murderers!" Sebastian said, the disgust evident in his voice.

"Mass…murderers?" Athrun said now more confused than ever, "My father would do no such thing!"

"Are you so sure?" Sebastian said.

"Can we just get out of here?" Kira said.

"Kira, you'll come back with us, won't you?" Athrun said, desperation now coloring his tone. Kira just shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Athrun. I can't. Please don't ask me that again."

"Then in that case, next time we meet. I'll show no mercy towards you" Athrun said.

"Same here" Kira replied. The moment was broken up by a white blur flashing by.

"What the?" Sebastian said, "It's a set up! Athrun, did you have anything to do with this?"

"No, I swear to God! It must be Commander Le Creuset!" Athrun said. Le Creuset's white CGUE made a straight out run on the Strike.

"Kira watch out!" Sebastian shouted.

"Athrun take Miss Clyne back to the ship!" Le Creuset said.

"Commander, stop!" Athrun yelled, it was that time that Lacus stepped in.

"Commander Le Creuset, it is your intention to turn this place into a battlefield, right in front of a memorial representative such as myself? Lacus said sharply.

"Miss Clyne, this may not be the best time-" Le Creuset started.

"You _will_ break off your attack!" Lacus said even more sharply, "This is a direct order, Commander!"

"Yes ma'am" Le Creuset said resignedly, "Athrun, return to base."

"Yes sir" Athrun said. As the Aegis and Le Creuset's CGUE sped away. Sebastian couldn't help but smile.

_Way to go, Lacus_, Sebastian thought, _It really pays to be the daughter of the Supreme Chairman._

"That was close!" Nicol said, "That could have gotten really ugly."

"I heard that!" Sebastian said, "Kira, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just fine" she said, although Sebastian could tell how upset his friend was.

"Well, it looks like I missed out on quite a show!" Mu said, "Come on you four. We're going home."

"Understood, I'm ready to forget about this day!" Sebastian said, all five machines then flew back to the ship. As Sebastian put his uniform back on, he reached into his jacket pocket, and closed his eyes.

_Lacus, I _will_ see you again! _His hand came out, clutching a silver ring attached to a thin silver chain. _I promise you that!_


	15. Notice

**Ok, I know you were all expecting this to be the next chapter of this fic, but I have some Bad news, and some good news. **

**The Bad News is that I am going to stop writing the following fics:**

**Gundam SEED Miracle**

**Gundam SEED Miracle Ver.2**

**Gundam SEED Dynasty**

**Gundam SEED Vestige**

**Gundam SEED Song of Redemption**

**Gundam SEED Nation of the Stars**

**The Reason why I am cancelling these fics is because I am having trouble keeping track of them. Their all Gundam SEED Fics, so its easy to get them confused. **

**But now the good news! Though I am going to stop writing those fics, I am now working on a new Gundam SEED Fic that will be acting as a replacement. What I am doing is Merging elements from the fics above, and putting them together into a single fic. This new fic will be called simply:**

**Gundam SEED Miracle Re-visioned**

**Hey, I like the title of Miracle! That and I couldn't think of a better name for the fic. I am working on this fic as we speak, and I hope to post it soon for you all to enjoy! So please be patient, and you will not be disappointed!  
**


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